''Bosmania'' is a genus of

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 ...

s in the family

Polypodiaceae Polypodiaceae is a family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family includes around 65 genera and an estimated 1,650 species and is placed in the order Polypodiales, suborder Polypodiineae. A broader ...

, subfamily

Microsoroideae Microsoroideae is a subfamily in the fern family Polypodiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The subfamily is also treated as the tribe Microsoreae within a very broadly defined family Polypodiaceae ''se ...

, erected in 2019. , the genus was not accepted by some sources.

Description

''Bosmania'' species are

terrestrial plant A terrestrial plant is a plant that grows on, in, or from land. Other types of plants are aquatic (living in water), epiphytic (living on trees) and lithophytic (living in or on rocks). The distinction between aquatic and terrestrial plants is ...

lithophyte Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are also ...

s or

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s. They grow from creeping

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s that are circular in cross-section, or slightly flattened from top to bottom, with roots emerging from the underside. The rhizome has brown scales, 1.5–9 mm long, 1–3 mm wide. Their leaves are elliptical in shape, undivided, up to 110 cm long and 15 cm wide, and have a wingless petiole 1–15 cm long. A characteristic of the genus is that the leaves are "seasonally deciduous", i.e. shed during unfavourable conditions. The blade of the leaf (lamina) is thin with prominent veins. The sori are round to slightly elliptical with bright yellow monolete spores.

Taxonomy

The division of the subfamily Microsoroideae into genera has long been uncertain. A 2019

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study suggested that there were three

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

s, comprising species previously mainly placed in '' Microsorum'', that were close to ''

Lecanopteris ''Lecanopteris'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). They have swollen hollow rhizomes that provide homes for symbiotic ants ...

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

and distinct from other clades in the subfamily. The authors of the study preferred to set up three extra

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

genera, rather than use a broader circumscription of ''Lecanopteris''. The genera are related as shown in the following cladogram. , the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' recognized the segregate genera, including ''Bosmania''; other sources did not. The genus name ''Bosmania'' honours Dutch botanist

Monique Bosman Monique is a female given name. It is the French form of the name Monica. The name has enjoyed some popularity in the United States since about 1955, and is less common in other English-speaking countries except for Canada although mostly used ...

, who first identified and described this group of species in her 1991 monograph on ''Microsorum''.

Species

, the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' recognized the following species; all have previously been placed in the genus '' Microsorum'': *''

Bosmania lastii ''Bosmania'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, erected in 2019. , the genus was not accepted by some sources. Description ''Bosmania'' species are terrestrial plants, lithophytes or epiphytes. They grow f ...

'' (Baker) Testo (syn. ''Microsorum lastii'' (Baker) Tardieu) *''

Bosmania leandriana ''Bosmania'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, erected in 2019. , the genus was not accepted by some sources. Description ''Bosmania'' species are terrestrial plants, lithophytes or epiphytes. They grow ...

'' (Tardieu) Testo (syn. ''Microsorum leandrianum'' Tardieu) *''

Bosmania membranacea ''Bosmania membranacea'' is a species of fern in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae. It is native to tropical and subtropical Asia, from India to Japan and south to Sulawesi. Taxonomy ''Bosmania membranacea'' was first described ...

'' (D.Don) Testo (syn. ''Microsorum membranaceum'' (D.Don) Ching)

Distribution and habitat

''Bosmania membranacea'' is widespread in tropical Asia, from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

and China through

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The other two species are rare, found only in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. They are usually found on

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

or soil derived from limestone.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q84917277 Polypodiaceae Fern genera