Nephrolepis cordifolia

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

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Genus Nephrolepis

Plants terrestrial , epiphytic, or on rock. Stems ascending to erect , bearing wiry stolons and sometimes underground tubers. Leaves monomorphic , evergreen . Petiole ca. 1/10--1/2 length of blade , base not swollen; vascular bundles more than 3, arranged in an arc, ± round in cross section . Blade narrowly elliptic to linear-lanceolate, 1-pinnate (to 4--5-pinnate in various cultivated forms), very gradually reduced distally to minute pinnatifid apex, often seemingly indeterminate with apex never expanded, herbaceous to papery . Pinnae articulate to rachis, sometimes deciduous, segment (pinna) margins entire, crenulate , or biserrate ; proximal pinnae (usually several pairs) slightly to greatly reduced, sessile, equilateral or inequilateral with basiscopic base excised and often an acroscopic basal auricle ; costae adaxially grooved , grooves not continuous from rachis to costae; indument of linear-lanceolate scales and sometimes multicellular hairs on abaxial and sometimes adaxial surfaces. Veins free , forked . Sori ± round; indusia round-reniform and with deep sinus to semicircular with broad sinus or lunate without sinus and seemingly laterally attached, persistent . Spores brownish, tuberculate to rugose . x = 41.

Species 25--30: widespread in tropical areas.

Nephrolepis often has veins ending in hydathodes and whitish lime-dots adaxially.

Cultivars of Nephrolepis occasionally are found in the wild, where they persist for some time. Numerous forms of N. exaltata cv. `Bostoniensis' and its derivatives are widely cultivated, and the following are known from Florida: N. exaltata cv. `Bostoniensis', N. exaltata cv. `Elegantissima' complex , N. exaltata cv. `Florida Ruffles', N. exaltata cv. `M. P. Mills'.[1]

Physical Description

Habitat

Terrestrial or epiphytic in wet, shady places, limestone ledges, cliffs , rock, roadsides, and often old homesites or waste places; widely escaped from cultivation and only questionably native to any particular region; 0 m [2].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,869 meters (0 to 15,974 feet).[3]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 12-15" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Light Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Aspidium cordifolium (Linnaeus) Swartz • Polypodium cordifolium Linnaeus

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

Members of the genus Nephrolepis

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 34 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

N. averyi (Avery's Swordfern) · N. biserrata (Giant Sword Fern) · N. biserrata 'Macho' (Macho Fern) · N. cordifolia (Boston Fern) · N. cordifolia var. Lemon Buttons (Button Sword Fern) · N. cordifolia 'Duffii' (Fishbone Fern) · N. cordifolia 'Timmii' (Timm's Petticoat Fern) · N. exaltata (Boston Fern) · N. exaltata cordifolia (Boston Swordfern) · N. exaltata var. bostoniensis (Boston Fern) · N. exaltata var. Fluffy Ruffles (Sword Fern) · N. exaltata var. Whitmanii (Boston Fern) · N. exaltata 'Aurea' (Golden Boston Fern) · N. exaltata 'Bostoniensis' (Boston Fern) · N. exaltata 'Bostoniensis Aureus' (Golden Boston Fern) · N. exaltata 'Fluffy Ruffles Upright' (Boston Fern) · N. exaltata 'Ruth' (Ruth Fern) · N. exaltata 'Shadow Lace' (Boston Fern) · N. exaltata 'Suzi Wong' (Boston Swordfern) · N. exaltata 'Tiger Fern' (Boston Fern) · N. falcata (Fish Tail Swordfern) · N. falcata 'Fancy Frill' (Fishtail Fern) · N. falcata 'Furcans' (Furcans Fishtail Fern) · N. hirsutula (Scaly Swordfern) · N. laurifolia (Laurel-Leaf Swordfern) · N. multiflora (Asian Swordfern) · N. obliterata (Australian Sword Fern) · N. obliterata 'Kimberly Queen' (Australian Sword Fern) · N. obliterata 'Medusa' (Australian Sword Fern) · N. pectinata (Basket Fern) · N. rivularis (Streamside Swordfern) · N. undulata (Annual Swordfern) · N. x (Avery's Swordfern) · N. × averyi (Avery's Swordfern)

More Info

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Further Reading

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• A hand-list of the Jamaica ferns and their allies / by G.S. Jenman. Demerara: Printed at Baldwin, 1881. url p. 39.
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• A montane rain-forest; a contribution to the physiological plant geography of Jamaica, Washington, D. C., Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1914. url , .
• A record of plants collected in Southern Rhodesia; arramged on Engler's system. Compiled by Fred. Eyles. Cape Town, 1916 url p. 281.
• A summary of the new ferns which have been discovered or described since 1874. Oxford: Clarendon, 1892. url p. 71.
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• Bengal plants: a list of the phanerogams, ferns and fern-allies indigenous to, or commonly cultivated in, the Lower provinces and Chittagong, with definitions of the natural orders and genera, and keys to the genera and species. 2 1903 Calcutta: Botanical Survey of India1903. url p. 1255.
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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 22, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
• Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Virtual Herbarium Darwin Core format
• GBIF-Spain, CUBA:Herbario del Jardín Botánico Nacional, La Habana, Cuba: HAJB-Pteridophyta
• GBIF-Spain, Jardi Botanic de Valencia: VAL
• Herbier de la Guyane, Herbier de la Guyane
• Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
• , Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2644732
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-17604
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13850402
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:102379-3
• GRIN Nomen Number: 403335
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 17604
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 17160730
• MoBot NameID: 26602325
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PPDAV01020
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: NECO3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 49286

Footnotes

1. Clifton E. Nauman "Nephrolepis". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Nephrolepis cordifolia". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. Mean = 1,209.060 meters (3,966.732 feet), Standard Deviation = 1,089.360 based on 337 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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