Family Grammitidaceae
Synonyms: Grammitidaceae APNI*
Description: Epiphytic or growing on rocks, rarely terrestrial; rhizome usually long-creeping, short-creeping in a few genera, covered with scales; stipes generally articulated to the rhizome.
Fronds uniform to distinctly dimorphic, vernation circinate; lamina simple, pinnatifid, pinnate or dichotomously branched, glabrous or covered with peltate or stellate scales; veins anastomosing, often with free vein endings in the reticulations, rarely free.
Sori without indusium, circular or elongated or covering whole, or portions of, the fertile frond.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 20–50 genera, c. 1000 species cosmopolitan. Australia: 11 genera, 28 or 29 species, all States except S.A.
External links:
Wikipedia The genera Notogrammitis and Grammitis are challenging to differentiate in a key. For this reason the keys to species under Grammitis covers both genera. We recognise Notogrammitis because Grammitis comprises at least 5 different lineages, these are scattered throughout the grammitid phylogeny. While Australasian species are reasonably well studied, Grammitis from the rest of the world are still being worked on to resolve this polyphyly. See Ranker et al. (2004) Phylogeny and evolution fo grammitid ferns (Grammitidiaceae): a case of rampant morphological homoplasy. Taxon 53: 415-428, and Perrie and Parris (2012) Chloroplast DNA sequences indicate the grammitid ferns (Polypodiaceae) in New Zealand belong to a single clade, Notogrammitis gen. nov. New Zealand Journal of Botany 50: 457-472.
Text by Peter G. Wilson
Taxon concept:
|
