Vittariaceae

Shoestring fern Vittaria lineata, from Riverbanks Outdoor Store.

Belongs within: Pteridaceae.

The Vittariaceae are a group of mostly epiphytic or lithophytic ferns found primarily in damp forests of the Old and New World tropics. A number of species are known to have ribbon-shaped gametophytes that are able to propagate themselves asexually through filamentous gemmae.

Characters (from Lindsay 2003): Plants with creeping rhizomes on which fronds usually arranged in two rows on dorsal surface; fronds usually simple, pendulous, lacking sclerenchyma, venation reticulate (occasionally reduced to a mid-rib with or without a few free lateral veins); epidermis of fronds containing spicule cells (elongated idioblasts containing needle-like crystals). Sporangia arranged in simple or branched soral lines, soral lines usually containing paraphyses. Gametophytes (where known) ribbon-shaped, perennial, usually bearing filamentous gemmae.

<==Vittariaceae
    |  i. s.: Rheopteris cheesmaniae Alston 1956 L03
    |         Monogramma [incl. Vaginularia] L03
    |--+--Haplopteris L03
    |  |    |  i. s.: H. elongata L03 [=Vittaria elongata Swartz 1806 L03, I88]
    |  |    |         H. scolopendrina [=Vittaria scolopendrina] L03
    |  |    |--+--‘Vittaria’ anguste-elongata L03
    |  |    |  `--H. zosterifolia [=Vittaria zosterifolia] L03
    |  |    `--+--H. ensiformis [=Vittaria ensiformis] L03
    |  |       `--‘Vittaria’ flexuosa Fée 1852 L03, I88
    |  `--+--Hecistopteris pumila L03
    |     `--Radiovittaria [=Vittaria subg. Radiovittaria] L03
    |          |--‘Vittaria’ minima L03
    |          `--+--‘Vittaria’ remota L03
    |             `--+--‘Vittaria’ gardneriana L03
    |                `--‘Vittaria’ stipitata L03
    `--+--Antrophyum L03
       |    |--A. obovatum Baker 1898 I88
       |    |--A. plantagineum L03
       |    `--A. reticulatum (Forster) Kaulf. 1824 (see below for synonymy) I88
       `--+--Ananthocorus angustifolius [=Vittaria angustifolia; incl. V. costata] L03
          |--Scoliosorus L03
          |    |--‘Antrophyum’ (subg. Scoliosorus) ensiforme L03
          |    `--‘Antrophyum’ subg. Antrophyopsis L03
          |         |--A. boryanum L03
          |         `--A. mannianum L03
          |--+--Anetium citrifolium L03
          |  `--Polytaenium [=Antrophyum subg. Polytaenium] L03
          |       |--‘Antrophyum’ lineatum L03
          |       `--+--‘Antrophyum’ cajenense L03
          |          `--‘Antrophyum’ lanceolatum L03
          `--Vittaria L03
               |  i. s.: V. filifolia L54
               |         V. forrestiana Ching 1941 I88
               |         V. moritiziana J87
               |         V. sikkimensis Kuhn 1869 I88
               |         V. taeniophylla Copel. 1906 [incl. V. revoluta Don 1825 non von Willdenow ex Kaulf. 1824] I88
               |--+--V. appalachiana L03
               |  `--V. graminifolia L03
               `--+--V. isoetifolia L03
                  `--+--V. dimorpha L03
                     `--V. lineata L03

Antrophyum reticulatum (Forster) Kaulf. 1824 [incl. Hemionitis coriacea Don 1825, Antrophyum coriaceum (Don) Wallich ex Hooker 1868] I88

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[I88] Iwatsuki, K. 1988. An enumeration of the pteridophytes of Nepal. In The Himalayan Plants vol. 1 (H. Ohba & S. B. Malla, eds) The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 31: 231-339.

[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum – Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1-136.

[L03] Lindsay, S. 2003. Considerations for a revision of the fern family Vittariaceae for Flora Malesiana. Telopea 10 (1): 99-112.

[L54] Lötschert, W. 1954. Beitrag zur Pteridophyten-Flora von Mittel-Amerika. Senckenbergiana Biologica 35 (1-2): 109-119.