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• Physical Description
• Distribution
• Reproduction
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Taxonomy

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 03-Dec-2003

Physical Description

Family Dryopteridaceae:

Plants perennial, terrestrial or on rock, occasionally hemiepiphytic or epiphytic. Stems creeping to erect, rarely arborescent, sometimes climbing, branched or unbranched, dictyostelic, bearing scales. Leaves circinate in bud, monomorphic or dimorphic. Petiole usually not articulate to stem, scales usually persistent at base, in cross section with 2--many roundish bundles, or bundles 2 and lunate. Blade simple to commonly 1--5-pinnate or more divided, leaf buds absent or present. Veins pinnate or parallel in ultimate segments, simple or forked, free or anastomosing, areoles sometimes with included free veinlets. Indument on blade commonly of glands, hairs, and/or scales, especially on rachis and costae abaxially. Sori borne abaxially on veins or at vein tips (but usually not marginal), or sporangia acrostichoid and covering abaxial surface, if in discrete sori then variously shaped (round, oblong, or elongate) ; receptacle not or only slightly elevated, with or without indusium, indusium variously linear, falcate, or reniform, sometimes hoodlike, cuplike, or round. Sporangia with stalk of 2--3 rows of cells; annulus vertical, interrupted by stalk. Spores all of 1 kind, usually not green (except Matteuccia, Onoclea ), oblong or reniform in outline, monolete, variously ornamented (often broadly winged), 64 per sporangium (32 in apogamous spp.) . Gametophytes green, aboveground, cordate, glabrous or often bearing glands or hairs; archegonia and antheridia borne on lower surface, antheridia 3-celled.

Genera ca. 60, species perhaps exceeding 3000 (18 genera, 79 species in the flora) : worldwide.

The family Dryopteridaceae has been variously circumscribed; it is here delimited in a manner similar to that of R. M. Tryon and A. F. Tryon (1982) but with the inclusion of Nephrolepis . In many works, the family has gone under the illegitimate name Aspidiaceae. Some authorities define Dryopteridaceae more narrowly, to exclude Athyrium, Deparia, Diplazium, Cystopteris, and Gymnocarpium (Athyriaceae or Woodsiaceae), Woodsia (Woodsiaceae), Lomariopsis (Lomariopsidaceae), Nephrolepis (Nephrolepidaceae or Davalliaceae), Onoclea and Matteuccia (Onocleaceae), and Ctenitis and Tectaria (Tectariaceae) . Characteristics holding Dryopteridaceae (as circumscribed here) together include the bilateral, monolete spores, often broadly winged perispore, absence of needlelike hairs, scaly stem and petiole bases, abaxial (nonmarginal) sori, base chromosome number of 40 or 41 (also 38 and 39 in Woodsia, 37 in Onoclea, 42 in Cystopteris ), and usually indusiate sori. Loss of indusium, dimorphism, areolate venation, and reduced blade dissection have occurred repeatedly along many evolutionary lines in Dryopteridaceae, and in general these characteristics are often not very useful in delimiting genera or assessing intergeneric relationships.

In some genera, especially Phanerophlebia and Polystichum, the blade bears very narrow scales (sometimes called microscales) that resemble uniseriate hairs. These scales may be only one or two cells wide. Every intergradation exists between these filiform microscales and more typical, wider scales, and the two types are the same color, generally tan to brownish. Microscales are probably not homologous with true hairs, which may be either unicellular or multicellular, uncolored or sometimes reddish (as in Tectaria and Ctenitis ), glandular (as in Woodsia ) or not. Hairs in Dryopteridaceae, if present at all, are generally readily distinguishable from the needlelike, transparent ones found in Thelypteridaceae.^[1]

Genus Diplazium:

Plants terrestrial or on rock. Stems creeping, ascending, or erect, stolons absent. Leaves monomorphic, evergreen or dying back in winter. Petiole ca. 1/2 to equaling length of blade, base swollen and persisting as trophopod over winter or not; vascular bundles 2, lateral, lunate in cross section. Blade oblong-lanceolate to deltate, 1-pinnate to 2-pinnate-pinnatifid [simple to 4-pinnate-pinnatifid], gradually reduced distally to pinnatifid apex or apical pinna similar to (conform) adjacent pinnae, herbaceous to papery. Pinnae not articulate to rachis, segment margins entire, crenulate, or serrate; proximal pinnae not reduced, sessile, equilateral or inequilateral; costae adaxially deeply grooved, grooves continuous with that of rachis; indument abaxially absent or of linear to ovate scales, adaxially absent. Veins free, simple or forked, or basal pairs of adjacent segments anastomosing. Sori single or paired back-to-back on veins, oblong to linear, straight or slightly falcate; indusia linear, laterally attached, persistent. Spores brownish, usually broadly winged. x = 40, 41.

Species about 400: worldwide.

In a few species outside the flora, rachises and costae bear multicellular hairs like those of Deparia, which differs from Diplazium in having grooves of costae not decurrent onto rachis groove, veins free or anastomosing, sori long or short and costular, and indusia present or absent. Many species of Diplazium are known to reproduce apogamously.^[2]

Habit: Forb/herb

Images:

Distribution

Range and Population

Caribbean

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Similar Species

Members of the genus Diplazium:

There are approximately 980 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: D. aberrans · D. acanthopus · D. accedens · D. acrocarpum · D. acrotis · D. aculeatum · D. acuminatum · D. acutale · D. adnatum · D. aemulum · D. aequibasale · D. aff. latisectum · D. affine · D. agyokuense · D. albido-squamatum · D. albidosquamatum · D. alienum · D. alismaefolium · D. alismifolium · D. allantodioides · D. allantoideum · D. allorgei · D. alsophilum · D. alternifolium · D. altissimum · D. altissimum var. atroviride · D. altum · D. amamianum · D. ambigum · D. ambiguum · D. ambiguum var. dissectum · D. ambiguum var. pubescens · D. amplifrons · D. amplissimum · D. amplum · D. andapense · D. andicola · D. andinum · D. angelopolitanum · D. angulosum · D. angustatum · D. angustifolium · D. angustifrons · D. angustipinna · D. angustisquamatum · D. annetii · D. anthraxacolepis · D. apatelium · D. apetelium · D. aphanoneuron · D. apicisorum · D. apollinaris · D. arborescens · D. arboreum var. angustatum · D. arboreum var. otites · D. arboreum var. sheperdi · D. arboreum var. shepherdi · D. arboreum var. unilobum · D. aridum · D. arisanense · D. armatum · D. arnotti · D. asperulum · D. asperum · D. asperum var. subpolypodioides · D. aspidioides · D. asplenioides · D. assimile · D. asterothrix · D. athyrioides · D. atirense · D. atirrense · D. atirrense var. lobulatum · D. atratum · D. atropurpureum · D. atrosquamosum · D. atroviride · D. auriculatum · D. australe · D. avitaguense · D. axillare · D. bakerianum · D. balliviani · D. bamlerianum · D. banahaoense · D. bantamense · D. barbadense · D. barbatum · D. barisanicum · D. basahense · D. basipinnatifidum · D. beamanii · D. beddomei · D. bellum · D. betimusense · D. bicolor · D. bicuspe · D. bifrons · D. biolleyi · D. bipartitum

Bibliography

• Johnson, D. M. 1986. Trophopods in North American species of Athyrium (Aspleniaceae). Syst. Bot. 11: 26--31.
• Kato, M. 1977. Classification of Athyrium and allied genera of Japan. Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 90: 23--40.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/Taxonomicon/]. Access date: Nov 23, 2005
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
• USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Identifiers:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 502093
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 289375
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: DILH
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 34151

Footnotes:

1. Alan R. Smith "Dryopteridaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. Masahiro Kato "Diplazium". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.