''Lecanopteris'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

, according to the

Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group, or PPG, is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the classification of pteridophytes (lycophytes and ferns) that reflects knowledge about plant relation ...

classification of 2016 (PPG I). They have swollen hollow

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 provide homes for symbiotic ants. All are

epiphytic 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 ...

plants that naturally occur from

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. Several species are in commerce, being grown as houseplants and greenhouse curiosities.

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

The

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 ...

genus ''Lecanopteris'' has been divided into two sub-genera, ''Lecanopteris'' and ''Myrmecopteris''. All the species have rhizomes associated with ants. Subgenus ''Lecanopteris'' was monophyletic, and ''Myrmecopteris'' was

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

. 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 the genus was related to three other clades, treated as genera, related as shown in the following cladogram. , the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' recognizes the segregate genera; other sources do not.

Species

, the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' recognized the following species in ''Lecanopteris'' s.s. *'' Lecanopteris balgooyi'' Hennipman *'' Lecanopteris carnosa'' (Reinw.) Blume *'' Lecanopteris celebica'' Hennipman *'' Lecanopteris crustacea'' Copel. *'' Lecanopteris darnaedii'' Hennipman *'' Lecanopteris deparioides'' (Ces.) Baker *'' Lecanopteris holttumii'' Hennipman *'' Lecanopteris luzonensis'' Hennipman *''

Lecanopteris mirabilis ''Lecanopteris mirabilis'' is a species of tropical fern in the genus ''Lecanopteris'' native to Papua New Guinea and Sulawesi. An epiphyte, its name means "wonderful" or "marvelous". Like others of its genus, it grows from a large rhizome that in ...

'' Copel. *'' Lecanopteris pumila'' Blume *'' Lecanopteris sarcopus'' (Teijsm. & Binn.) Copel. *'' Lecanopteris sinuosa'' (Wall. ex Hook.) Copel. *'' Lecanopteris spinosa'' Jermy & T.Walker

References

''Lecanopteris''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6511489 Epiphytes Symbiosis Taxa named by Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt Fern genera Myrmecophytes