Acrostichum Danaeifolium
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''Acrostichum'' is a
fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...
genus in the Parkerioideae subfamily of the
Pteridaceae Pteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, including some 1150 known species in ca 45 genera (depending on taxonomic opinions), divided over five subfamilies. The family includes four groups of genera that are sometimes recogni ...
. It was one of the original
pteridophyte A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that disperses spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as "cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is hidden. Ferns, ...
genera delineated by
Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
. It was originally drawn very broadly, including all ferns that had sori apparently "acrostichoid", or distributed in a uniform mass across the back of the frond, rather than organized in discrete sori. This led Linnaeus to include such species as ''
Asplenium platyneuron ''Asplenium platyneuron'' (syn. ''Asplenium ebeneum''), commonly known as ebony spleenwort or brownstem spleenwort, is a fern native to North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It takes its common name from its dark, reddish-brown, glossy sti ...
'' in the genus, because the specimen he received had sori so crowded that it appeared acrostichoid. Since '' Acrostichum aureum'' is regarded as the type for the genus, it is now narrowly circumscribed only to the natural genus of three species, that are allied to the genus '' Ceratopteris''. They are collectively known as the leather ferns or leather swamp ferns, genus members commonly being found in swamps. The species of ''Acrostichum'' are massive ferns, with fronds up to 12 feet (3.5 meters) tall, that depend on a semi-aquatic existence. They do not withstand prolonged immersion, but require wet roots. The species ''Acrostichum aureum'' is known to have a high saltwater tolerance, growing in
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
s.


Species

*'' Acrostichum aureum'' L. *'' Acrostichum danaeifolium'' Langsd. &
Fisch. Friedrich Ernst Ludwig Fischer (20 February 1782, Halberstadt – 17 June 1854) was a Russian botanist, born in Germany. He was director of the St Petersburg botanical garden from 1823 to 1850. In 1804 he obtained his medical doctorate from the ...
*'' Acrostichum speciosum''
Willd. Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was al ...
*'' Acrostichum preaureum'' fossil plant.


References

* World species list for ''Acrostichum'': https://web.archive.org/web/20090921113828/http://homepages.caverock.net.nz/~bj/fern/acrostichum.htm * C.Michael Hogan. 2010
''Fern''. Encyclopedia of Earth. National council for Science and the Environment
Washington, DC Pteridaceae Fern genera {{Pteridaceae-stub