Pteridaceae
Pteris

Pteris longifolia L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 1074 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Mexico to Tropical America. It is a rhizomatous geophyte and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

George R. Proctor (2012). Flora of the Cayman Isands (Second Edition). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome decumbent, densely clothed with yellowish to rusty-brown hair-pointed scales
Morphology Leaves
Fronds ascending or spreading (forming an open rosette), usually less than 50 cm long, including the short stipe; stipes 5–15 cm long, bearing soft scales that leave a smooth surface on falling; lamina glabrous except for a few scattered minute hairs and glands along the rhachis, oblanceolate or rarely elliptic-oblong, 3–12 cm broad, 1-pinnate, terminating abruptly in a linear segment; pinnae narrowly linear, ascending, 2–7 mm broad, the sterile ones with finely crenulate margins; veins simple or once-forked.
Distribution
The Cayman population occurring on moist limestone ledges, the sides of old excavations, and on talus slopes below cliffs, not common. Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac. Florida, Bahamas, and Cuba.
Recognition
Differs from ‘typical’ P. longifolia in its smaller fronds with smooth stipes and ascending pinnae, which are truncate or nearly so at the base. Grand Cayman P. longifolia plants have a diploid chromosome count, in contrast to the tetraploid Jamaican population (T. Walker, personal communication).
[Cayman]

Sources

  • Flora of the Cayman Islands

    • Flora of the Cayman Islands
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images