Blechnum serrulatum

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Blechnaceae

Plants perennial , mostly terrestrial , occasionally on rock or epiphytic. Stems creeping to suberect or ascending , sometimes climbing [rarely arborescent ], slender to stout, dictyostelic, scaly . Leaves monomorphic or dimorphic , large and coarse , generally greater than 30 cm, often exceeding 1 m. Petiole not articulate , generally more than 2 vascular bundles arranged in arc, generally scaly at least at base . Blade often anthocyanic (reddish) when young, pinnatifid [rarely simple ] to pinnate-pinnatifid or 2-pinnate [rarely decompound ], glabrous or occasionally bearing scales or capitate glands . Rachis frequently grooved adaxially. Veins of sterile leaves generally free , rarely anastomosing, veins of fertile leaves united to form sorus-bearing secondary vein parallel to costa or costule (vascular commisure), sometimes anastomosing further. Sori elongate along secondary vein; indusia present [rarely absent], opening along costal side of fertile vein, frequently hidden by dehisced sporangia; sporangial stalk of 3 rows of cells . Spores monolete, reniform ; perine present, variously ornamented. Gametophytes green, cordate, sometimes bearing capitate hairs, antheridia and archegonia borne on lower surface.

Genera ca. 10, species ca. 250 (2 genera, 6 species in the flora ) : mostly tropical and south temperate (except Woodwardia, which is north temperate) .

Circumscription of genera is controversial, especially as to placement of those species now included in Blechnum . Characteristics holding the family together include the anastomoses of veins along the axes of the blade to form a series of areoles or a single continuous vein along which the sorus is borne, elongate sori with indusia opening toward midvein , bilateral spores, and chromosome base numbers of generally x = 28--36. Relationships of the family with both dryopteroid and athyrioid ferns have been suggested.[1]

Genus Blechnum

Plants terrestrial or rarely on rock. Stems creeping to ascending or erect , slender to stout, sometimes climbing [rarely subarborescent]; scales brown or black. Leaves monomorphic or variously dimorphic , cespitose to scattered . Blades pinnatifid to 1-pinnate, rarely simple or 2-pinnate. Rachis and costae glabrous , scaly , or hairy abaxially. Veins free , often forked . Sori borne on vascular commissures parallel to costae, 1 per side, normally uninterrupted, linear , continuous along length of costa. Spores with perine smooth to variously winged or rugose . x = 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 36.

Species ca. 220: mostly tropical , especially Southern Hemisphere.[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Swamps , marshes, wet prairies, and adjacent moist pine woods or hammocks ; 0 m [3].

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of 39 meters (127 feet).[4]

Biome: Coastal.

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 4-6' apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Light Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Spicanta serrulata Kuntze • Struthiopteris polypodioides (Sw.) Trev.

Notes

Publishing author : Rich. Publication : Actes Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 114 1792 [Oct 1792]

Similar Species

Members of the genus Blechnum

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 30 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

B. appendiculatum (Hammock Fern) · B. blechnoides (Salt-Spray Fern) · B. brasiliense (Brazilian Blechnum) · B. cartilagineum (Gristle Fern) · B. chambersii (Lance Water-Fern) · B. chilense (Chilean Hard-Fern) · B. chordatum (Chilean Hard Fern) · B. divergens (Ravine Midsorus Fern) · B. fluviatile (Ray Water-Fern) · B. fragile (Fragile Midsorus Fern) · B. fraseri (Maukurangi) · B. gibbum (Dwarf Tree Fern) · B. gibbum 'Silver Lady' (Dwarf Tree Fern) · B. insularum (Graceful Midsorus Fern) · B. lineatum (Rockbank Midsorus Fern) · B. minus (Hard Water Fern) · B. moorei (Brazilian Tree Fern) · B. novae-zealandiae (Gully Fern) · B. nudum (Fishbone Water-Fern) · B. occidentale (Hammock Fern) · B. occidentale var. pubirachis (New World Midsorus Fern) · B. orientale (Blechnum) · B. patersonii (Strap Water-Fern) · B. penna-marina (Alpine Water-Fern) · B. polypodioides (Narrowleaf Midsorus Fern) · B. serrulatum (Swamp Fern) · B. spicant (Deer Fern) · B. tabulare (Table Mountain Fern) · B. virginicum (Virginia Chain Fern) · B. wattsii (Hard Water Fern)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A Directory of Neotropical Wetlands. IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 193, p. 194.
• A contribution to the botany of the Isle of Pines, Cuba, based upon the specimens of plants from that island contained in the herbarium of the Carnegie Museum under date of October, 1916. By O.E. Jennings. n.p., 1917 url p. 44.
• A dictionary of modern gardening. Philadelphia, Lea and Blanchard, 1847. url p. 89.
• A geographical handbook of all the known ferns; with tables to show their distribution, London, J. Murray, 1870. url .
• A naturalist in the Bahamas, John I. Northrop, October 12, 1861-June 25, 1891; a memorial volume / edited with a biographical introd. New YorkColumbia University Press1910 url p. 133.
• A naturalist in the Bahamas: John I. Northrop, October 12 1861 - June 25, 1891; a memorial volume, ed., with a biographical introduction by Henry Fairfield Osborn. New York, The Columbia university press[c1910] url p. 133.
• A naturalist in the Bahamas: New York, Columbia University Press[c1910] url .
• An enumeration of the vascular plants known from Surinam: together with their distribution and synonymy / by A. Pulle. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1906. url p. 514.
• Annales du Jardin botanique de Buitenzorg. 20 1906 Leiden [etc.]: E. J. Brill [etc.] url p. 103.
• Annals of the Carnegie Museum. [Pittsburgh]: Published by authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1901- url p. 44.
• Biologia centrali-americana; or, Contributions to the knowledge of the fauna and flora of Mexico and Central America. London, Pub. for the editors by R. H. Porter and Dulau & co., 1879-88. url .
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: The Museum, 1951-1992. url p. 144, p. 178, p. 232, p. 238, p. 239.
• Bulletin of the Natural History Museum. London: The Natural History Museum, c1993-2002. url p. 84.
• Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 24 1897 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url p. 434, p. 472, p. 620.
• Catalogue of scientific papers (1800-1900) Comp. by the Royal society of London. Cambridge, C. J. Clay and sons, 1867-1902; url p. 278.
• Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900. CambridgeUniversity Press1908-14 url p. 278.
• Chapman, A. W. Flora of the southern United States:containing abridged descriptions of the flowering plants and ferns of Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida: arranged according to the natural system /By A. W. Chapman, the ferns by Prof. Daniel C. Eaton. 1860 N. Y.: Ivison, Phinney, 1860. url p. 591.
• Chronological history of plants: man's record of his own existence illustrated through their names, uses, and companionship. Boston, Little, Brown & company, 1879. url .
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 50 2004 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 106, p. 46, p. 68, p. 80, p. 85.
• Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium. 8 1942 Ann Arbor: University Herbarium, University of Michigan, 1939- url p. 9.
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. url p. 112, p. 116.
• Ferns and fern allies of Guatemala. Robert G. Stolze; the genus Elaphoglossum by: John T. Mickel; the genus Thelypteris by: Alan R. Smith. 6 1981 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, 1981. url p. 113.
• Ferns in their homes and ours / by John Robinson. Boston: Whidden, 1894, c1878. url p. 63.
• Ferns: British and exotic... 4 1859 London, Groombridge and Sons, 1856-60. url p. 104, p. 109, p. 228.
• Flora of the Lancetilla Valley, Honduras, by Paul C. Standley. 10 1931 Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, 1931. url p. 69.
• Flora of the Southern United States: containing an abridged description of the flowering plants and ferns of Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida: arranged according to the natural system. New York, Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., [c1883] url .
• Flora of the southeastern United States; being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and in Oklahom by John Kunkel Small. New York, The author, 1913. url p. 11.
• Grisebach, A. H. R. Flora of the British West Indian islands /by A.H.R. Grisebach. [1859]-18 London, L. Reeve, 1864. url p. 673.
• Handbook to the ferns of British India, Ceylon and the Malay peninsula; with supplement, Calcutta, Thacker, Spink;1892. url p. 132.
• In lower Florida wilds; a naturalist's observations on the life, physical geography, and geology of the more tropical part of the state, by Charles Torrey Simpson. With sixty-four illustrations and two maps. London: G. P. Putnam's sons, 1920. url p. 272.
• Index filicum: a synopsis, with characters, of the genera, and an enumeration of the species of ferns, with synonymes, references, &c., &c. London, W. Pamplin, 1857-62. url , , , , , , p. 192, p. 194, p. 195, p. 198, p. 200, p. 203, p. 204, p. 206.
• Journal of botany, British and foreign. 10 1872 London: Robert Hardwicke, 1863-1942. url p. 262, p. 99.
• Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. Chapel Hill, N.C. [etc.]Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society [etc.] url , p. 97.
• Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 25 1924 Lancaster, Pa.: Published for the Garden by the New Era Printing Co., 1900- url p. 65.
• Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 32-33 1899-1900 Singapore: the Society, 1878-1922. url p. 52.
• Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club. 12 1902-1907 Durham, N.C.: Published for the Club by the Seeman Printery, 1889- url p. 16, p. 77.
• National list of scientific plant names. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1982- url p. 57.
• Naturalist's guide to the Americas, prepared by the Committee on the Preservation of Natural Conditions of the Ecological Society of America, with assistance from numerous organizations and individuals, assembled and edited by chairman, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1926. url p. 685, p. 685.
• Ornamental gardening in Florida, by Charles Torrey Simpson; a treatise on the decorative plants adapted to Florida and their cultivation, with suggestions for the ornamentation of Florida homes and grounds. Little River, Fla., The author, 1916. url p. 188, p. 188, p. 52, p. 52.
• Our native ferns and their alies: with synoptical descriptions of the American Pteridophyta north of Mexico / Lucien M. Underwood. New York: H. Holt, 1896. url p. 102, p. 66.
• Our native ferns and their allies with synoptical descriptions of the American pteridophyta north of Mexico / by Lucien Marcus Underwood. New York: H. Holt, 1900. url .
• Our native ferns and their allies: with synoptical descriptions of the American Pteridophyta north of Mexico / by Lucien Marcus Underwood. New York: H. Holt, 1896, c1888. url p. 102, p. 66.
• Our native ferns and their allies; with synoptical descriptions of the American Pteridophyta north of Mexico, by Lucien Marcus Underwood. New York: H. Holt, 1900. url p. 102.
• Phytologia memoirs. Plainfield, N.J.: H.N. Moldenke and A.L. Moldenke, 1980- url p. 16.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url , p. 119, p. 145, p. 153, p. 2, p. 232, p. 25, p. 288, p. 290, p. 294, p. 295, p. 296, p. 316, p. 43, p. 498, p. 70.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 559, p. 635.
• Pteridophyta of Peru. Rolla M. Tryon, Robert G. Stolze; with the collaboration of Blanca León. 32 1993 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, 1993. url p. 57, p. 60.
• Reliquiae Baldwinianae: selections from the correspondence of the late William Baldwin with occasional notes, and a short biographical memoir compiled by William Darlington. Philadelphia: Kimber and Sharpless, 1843. url p. 158.
• Researches on Fungi. .. by A. H. Reginald Buller. .. London, New York [etc.]Longmans, Green and co., 1909- url p. 444, p. 477.
• Second systematic census of Australian plants, with chronologic, literary and geographic annotations; by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller. Pt. I. --Vasculares. Melbourne: Printed for the Victorian Government by McCarron. Bird & Co., 1889. url p. 232.
• Species filicum; being descriptions of the known ferns, particularly of such as exist in the author's herbarium, or are with sufficient accuracy described in works to which he has had access; accompanied with numerous by Sir William Jackson Hooker. London, W. Pamplin, 1846-64. url p. 36.
• Standardized plant names; a catalogue of approved scientific and common names of plants in American commerce. Salem, Mass., 1923. url p. 145, p. 461.
• Supplemental register of written communications published in the Transactions and Proceedings of the American philosophical society, 1881-1889. Comp. by Henry Phillips, jr., one of the secretaries of the society. Philadelphia, Press of MacCalla & co., 1889. url p. 31.
• Synopsis filicum; or, A synopsis of all known ferns, including the Osmundaceae, Schizaeaceae, Marattiaceae, and Ophioglossaceae (chiefly derived from the Kew Herbarium). Accompanied by figures representing the essentia By the late Sir William Jackson Hooker and John Gilbert Baker. London, R. Hardwicke, 1874. url p. 186.
• The Bahama Islands / edited by George Burbank Shattuck. New York: Macmillan, 1905. url , p. 249, p. 249, p. 606.
• The Bahama Islands, London, Macmillan & co., ltd., 1905. url p. 249.
• The Bahama flora, by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Charles Frederick Millspaugh. New York, Published by the authors, 1920. url p. 468, p. 468, p. 468.
• The Canadian naturalist and geologist. Montreal: B. Dawson, 1856-1868. url p. 158.
• The Canadian naturalist and quarterly journal of science: with proceedings of the Natural History Society of Montreal. Montreal: Dawson, 1869-1883. url p. 27.
• The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 518.
• The Philippine journal of science. 19 1921 Manila. url p. 334.
• The Queensland flora: Queensland, Printed by H. J. Diddams & co., 1899-1902. url .
• The ferns of North America colored figures and descriptions, with synonymy and geographical distribution, of the ferns (including the ophioglassaceae) of the United States of America and the British North American possessions / by Daniel Cady Eaton; the drawings by J.H. Emerton and C.E. Faxon. Salem [Mass.]: S.E. Cassino, 1879. url , , .
• The flora of the Northern Territory, Melbourne, McCarron, Bird & Co., Printers, 1917. url .
• The illustrated dictionary of gardening, a practical and scientific encyclopedia of horticulture for gardeners and botanists. Ed. by George Nicholson. Assisted by Professor J. W. H. Trail and J. Garrett. London: L. U. Gill, [1884]-89. url p. 195.
• The vegetation of south Florida south of 27 30 north, exclusive of the Florida keys, by John W. Harshberger. Philadelphia, Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1914. url , p. 135, p. 144, p. 165, p. 166.
• Timehri. Demerara: "Argosy" url p. 109.
• Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. [S.l.: s.n.], 1843-1920. url p. 10, p. 36.
• Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia. 7 1910 Philadelphia: Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia, 1887-1927. url p. 135, p. 144, p. 165, p. 166, plate IX.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 21, 2007:

• GBIF-Spain, CUBA: Herbario de la Academia de Ciencias, La Habana, Cuba: HAC-Pteridophyta
• GBIF-Spain, CUBA:Herbario del Jardín Botánico Nacional, La Habana, Cuba: HAJB-Pteridophyta
• Herbier de la Guyane, Herbier de la Guyane
• Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
• , Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• SysTax, Herbarium Universitat Ulm
• SysTax, Ilha Solteira, Herbario
• SysTax, SysTax
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Alabama Biodiversity and Systematics, Herbarium

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2644920
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-17864
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13729265
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:53937-3
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 17864
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 17060330
• MoBot NameID: 26602710
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PPBLE01070
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: BLIN2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 25324

Footnotes

1. Raymond B. Cranfill "Blechnaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Clifton E. Nauman "Blechnum". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. "Blechnum serrulatum". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
4. Standard Deviation = 334.820 based on 454 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.