Pteris (brake) is a genus of about 300 species of ferns in the subfamily Pteridoideae of the family Pteridaceae.[1][2] They are native to tropical and subtropical regions, southward to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, north to Japan and North America. 78 species (35 endemic) are found in China.[3] Some species of Pteris have considerable economic and ecological value, such as Pteris multifida, Pteris ensiformis, Pteris vittata can be used for ornamental purposes; as a hyperaccumulator, Pteris multifida and Pteris vittata can be used to control soil pollution.[4]

Pteris
Pteris vittata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Pteridaceae
Subfamily: Pteridoideae
Genus: Pteris
L.
Type species
Pteris longifolia
L. 1753
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Afropteris Alston 1956
  • Cryptogramme series Anopteris Prantl 1882
  • Anopteris Prantl 1882 ex Diels 1899
  • Campteria Presl 1836 nom. superfl.
  • Copelandiopteris Stone 1973
  • Hemipteris Rosenstock 1908
  • Heterophlebium Fée 1850-52
  • Heteropteris Presl & von Ettingshausen 1865 non Fée 1869 non (sic) Kunth 1822 non Dieis 1899
  • Idiopteris Walker 1957
  • Lathyropteris Christ 1907
  • Lemapteris Rafinesque 1819
  • Litobrochia Presl 1836; Neurocallis Fée 1845
  • Ochropteris Smith 1841
  • Peripteris Rafinesque 1815
  • Phyllitis Rafinesque 1819 non Hill 1756 non Moench 1794
  • Platyzoma Brown 1810
  • Pteridium Rafinesque 1814 non Gleditsch ex Scopoli 1760
  • Pterilis Rafinesque 1830 non (sic) Rafinesque 1819
  • Pteripteris Rafinesque 1819
  • Pycnodoria Presl 1849-51
  • Schizopteris Hillebrand 1874 non Brongniart 1828
  • Schizostege Presl 1849-51 ex Hillebrand 1888
  • Schizostegopsis Copeland 1958
  • Spathepteris Presl 1846
  • Thelypteris Adanson 1763 non Schmid. 1763

Many of them have linear frond segments, and some have sub-palmate division. Like other members of the Pteridaceae, the frond margin is reflexed over the marginal sori. The outermost layer is the single layered epidermis without stomata. The cortex is differentiated into outer and inner cortical region. The vascular cylinder is an amphiphloic siphonostele.

The term "brake", used for members of this genus, is a Middle English word for "fern" from southern England. Its derivation is unclear, and is generally thought to be related to "bracken", whereby the latter word has been assumed to be a plural, as with "children", and the former word a back-formation. However it may have a separate derivation.[5]

The Latin genus name Pteris refers to the Greek name for fern (also meaning feathery).[6]

Phylogeny edit

Fern Tree of Life[7][8]
(Platyzoma)

P. platyzomopsis Christenhusz & H.Schneid.

(Pteris)

section Moluccanae

section Heterophlebium

section Pteris

(Campteria)

section Tremulae

section Denticulatae

section Tripedipteris

Clade 1

section Lithobrochia

section Dentatae

section Mutilatae

section Creticae

section Semipinnatae

section Hypsopodium

section Excelsae

section Cadierii

section Campteria

Selected species
 
Pteris hillebrandii
 
Pteris semipinnata

Cultivation and uses edit

Some of these ferns are popular in cultivation as houseplants. These smaller species are often called "table ferns".

Pteris vittata (commonly known as brake fern) was discovered to have the ability to "hyperaccumulate" (absorb large amounts of) arsenic from soil. The fern was growing at a central Florida site contaminated with large amounts of copper arsenate in the soil. Dr. Lena Q. Ma of the University of Florida later discovered that it had hyperaccumulated considerable amounts of arsenic from the soil. The discovery may lead to the use of Pteris vittata as a potential bioremediation plant. [1]

References edit

  1. ^ PPG I (2016). "A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 54 (6): 563–603. doi:10.1111/jse.12229. S2CID 39980610.
  2. ^ Christenhusz, Maarten J. M.; Zhang, Xian-Chun; Schneider, Harald (18 February 2011). "A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns" (PDF). Phytotaxa. 19: 7–54. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.2. ISSN 1179-3163.
  3. ^ "Pteris Linnaeus Sp". Flora of China.
  4. ^ "世界鳳尾蕨屬系統發育關系獲重建" (in Chinese). Science and Technology Daily.
  5. ^ J. Simpson; E. Weiner, eds. (1989). "brake". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-861186-2.
  6. ^ D. Gledhill The Names of Plants, p. 319, at Google Books
  7. ^ Nitta, Joel H.; Schuettpelz, Eric; Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Iwasaki, Wataru; et al. (2022). "An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life". Frontiers in Plant Science. 13: 909768. doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.909768. PMC 9449725. PMID 36092417.
  8. ^ "Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL". FTOL v1.4.0 [GenBank release 253]. 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.