Family:
Aspleniaceae Newman

Thelypteris Schmidel

This genus is accepted, and its native range is Cosmopolitan.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome slender, long-creeping, branched, always in very wet ground, with thin broad glabrous scales.
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina simply pinnate with deeply pinnatifid pinnae, the basal ones not or little reduced; veins all free, often forked, running to the margin
Morphology Leaves
Flat thin scales and sometimes filamentous smaller ones on lower surface of the costae Fronds widely spaced
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori
Sori indusiate; sporangia sometimes with short capitate hairs.
Note
One or two species in N temperate region and one scattered in various areas mostly south of the equator and widespread in tropical Africa extending to 7°N.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome short- to long-creeping or erect, with narrow setiferous scales
Morphology Leaves
Fronds tufted or spaced
Morphology Leaves Stipes
Stipe minutely hairy, scaly at the base
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina pinnate into usually deeply lobed pinnae; in some species with 1–3 pairs of short irregular pinnae at the base; veins simple, the basal ones either free or passing to the margin separately or connivent in the sinus-membrane or anastomosing to form an excurrent vein but sometimes variable in a single frond; sinus-membrane often ending in a tooth; lower surface of pinna with acicular and glandular hairs or glands
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori Indusium
Indusium usually present, hairy or glandular.
Note
About 12 species from East Africa to SE Asia, Malesia, Queensland and Pacific to Tahiti.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome erect, suberect or creeping, in some species widely so; scales narrow, ± densely hairy
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina simply pinnate, pinnatifid in almost all species with 1–5(–10) pairs of lower pinnae gradually decrescent; lower surface with erect acicular hairs and small capitate hairs and thick orange-red glandular hairs sometimes present
Morphology Leaves Leaf veins
In most species the basal veins or sometimes several pairs anastomose but in a few species the veins are free
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori
Sori indusiate (save in two non-African species); elongate glands present on stalks of sporangia in all but a few species.
Note
About 70 species in tropics and subtropics but the position of some African and Neotropical species needs further work, A.R. Smith treats Christella as a synonym of one of his subgenera of Cyclosorus. The species are extremely difficult and in need of much further field work.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome short, erect with few brown ovate scales
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina simply pinnate with basal pinnae not reduced
Morphology Leaves Pinnae
Pinnae ± 10–17, alternate or ± opposite, narrowly lanceolate, serrate or crenate but not deeply lobed, glabrous; apical pinna simple, with gemma at base
Morphology Leaves
Lateral nerves reaching tips of teeth; tertiary veins in 2–3 pairs, anastomosing Fronds tufted
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori
Sori in ± 1–2 lines ± parallel to costa, without indusia
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sporangia
Sporangia not setose.
Note
A monotypic genus widely distributed in Tropical Africa.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome predominantly erect or short-creeping but in a few species long-creeping or scandent with usually thin narrow scales with acicular hairs
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina pinnate, usually with abruptly or gradually reduced basal pinnae, rarely with no basal pinnae reduced.
Morphology Leaves
Pinnae mostly lobed or crenate, rarely subentire; veins anastomosing or less often just meeting at the sinus or ending above it; sessile spherical yellow glands usually present on parts of the pinnae or on indusia or sporangia but sometimes quite lacking; acicular hairs nearly always present on costae and costules
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori Indusium
Indusia usually present.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sporangia
Sporangia sometimes with yellow glands and occasionally setose.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome creeping, sometimes with non-peltate black scales
Morphology Leaves
Fronds tufted, with indefinite apical growth and bearing many buds on the rachis from which new plants form freely
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina simply pinnate, the pinnae not deeply lobed; veins almost all anastomosing to form an excurrent vein, only a few residual ones free and running to the margin
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori
Sori round or somewhat elongate without indusium; capitate paraphyses present.
Note
A monotypic genus distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics of the Old World.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome usually erect but creeping in a few species (some African), the scales usually thin and broad with few marginal hairs
Morphology Leaves
Fronds sometimes covered with mucilage when very young
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina sometime ± pustular when dry, with lower (often many) pairs of pinnae gradually or abruptly reduced; aerophores at bases of pinnae often swollen and distinct; veins usually anastomosing (always in African species) or free in about a dozen species
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sporangia
Sporangia sometimes bearing capitate hairs, setiferous in one African species
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori Indusium
Indusium present or absent.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome short-creeping or erect; stipes densely hairy with unicellular (in African species) or septate hairs
Morphology Leaves
Pinnae subentire to deeply-lobed, the upper ones always adnate to the rachis and in some species only the lowest fully free but usually many free; terminal lobe triangular; spherical glands lacking Fronds simply pinnate, the basal pinnae not or little reduced
Morphology Leaves Leaf veins
Veins free or with many anastomoses
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori Indusium
Indusium absent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sporangia
Sporangia setose.
Note
A pantropical genus with about 18 species; a single species in Africa.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome erect (save in one non-African species), the basal part often covered with a mass of tangled roots; scales firm, rather broad with few hairs
Morphology Leaves Stipes
Stipe short
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina pinnate, gradually narrowed to both base and apex; aerophores* at pinna-bases usually swollen.
Morphology Leaves Pinnae
Pinnae deeply lobed
Morphology Leaves Leaf veins
Veins simple except in enlarged basiscopic pinna-lobes; basal veins passing to margin above sinus or connivent just below sinus (in one non-African-mainland species anastomosing with short excurrent vein)
Morphology Leaves
Lower surface sometimes with red or orange sessile glands or capitate hairs, or acicular hairs which are sometimes hooked
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori
Sori with very small indusia with glandular or acicular hairs or effectively without indusia.
Note
* Aerophore: strictly a pore to facilitate breathing, but here very reduced lower pinnae

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome erect or short creeping with thin broad scales with few hairs
Morphology Leaves Stipes
Stipe scaly near base
Morphology Leaves
Fronds simply pinnate, bipinnatifid; basal pinnae ± abruptly reduced and small or to aerophores with a minute lamina; veins all free with basal aeroscopic vein passing to base or side of a short sinus-membrane and basal basiscopic vein to other side of the membrane or to edge above base of sinus; lower surface of pinnae with some acicular hairs and short or subsessile capitate hairs often present
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori
Sori indusiate.

[FTEA]

Thelypteridaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes
Rhizome long-creeping with rather broad scales with mostly marginal hairs
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Lamina bipinnatifid with lower pinnae not reduced and with flat clathrate scales on the lower surface of the costae but these can be obscure or absent
Morphology Leaves Leaf veins
Basal veins anastomosing with a long excurrent vein to the sinus
Morphology Leaves
Spherical red glands sometimes present on costules and veins
Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori
Sori indusiate; indusia glabrous to pilose; stalks of sporangia with long hairs with terminal red glands.
Note
A pantropical genus with probably 3 species according to Holttum but I have found it impossible to use his key satisfactorily. I have also found it difficult to use Alston’s key who also recognised 3 species from West Africa but used different characters. I recognise only one species and was therefore reassured to find that Jacobsen (Ferns S. Afr.: 395 (1983)) and A.R. Smith (Fl. Mesamer. 1: 181 (1995)) had also done so (see note).

Native to:

Afghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Aleutian Is., Algeria, Altay, Amur, Andaman Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arkansas, Ascension, Assam, Austria, Azores, Bahamas, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bismarck Archipelago, Bolivia, Borneo, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, British Columbia, Bulgaria, Burkina, Burundi, Buryatiya, California, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Central American Pac, Central European Rus, Chad, Chagos Archipelago, Chatham Is., Chile Central, Chile North, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Colombia, Comoros, Connecticut, Cook Is., Corse, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, East European Russia, East Himalaya, Easter Is., Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Florida, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Galápagos, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Hainan, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Hungary, Idaho, Illinois, India, Indiana, Inner Mongolia, Iowa, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Irkutsk, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jawa, Kamchatka, Kansas, Kazakhstan, Kazan-retto, Kentucky, Kenya, Kermadec Is., Khabarovsk, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kriti, Krym, Kuril Is., KwaZulu-Natal, Laccadive Is., Laos, Leeward Is., Lesotho, Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Madagascar, Madeira, Maine, Malawi, Malaya, Maldives, Mali, Maluku, Manchuria, Manitoba, Marianas, Marquesas, Marshall Is., Maryland, Massachusetts, Mauritius, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nansei-shoto, Nebraska, Nepal, Netherlands, New Brunswick, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New South Wales, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Newfoundland, Nicaragua, Nicobar Is., Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Is., North Carolina, North Caucasus, North Dakota, North European Russi, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Northwest European R, Norway, Nova Scotia, Ogasawara-shoto, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pakistan, Palestine, Panamá, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Is., Poland, Portugal, Primorye, Prince Edward I., Puerto Rico, Queensland, Québec, Rhode I., Rodrigues, Romania, Rwanda, Réunion, Sakhalin, Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Saskatchewan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sicilia, Sierra Leone, Society Is., Socotra, Solomon Is., South Australia, South Carolina, South Dakota, South European Russi, Spain, Sri Lanka, St.Helena, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Tokelau-Manihiki, Tonga, Transcaucasus, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Turks-Caicos Is., Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vermont, Victoria, Vietnam, Virginia, Wallis-Futuna Is., Washington, West Himalaya, West Siberia, West Virginia, Western Australia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Xinjiang, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Thelypteris Schmidel appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Pires, J.M. [9908], Brazil Christella K000956610
Heringer, E.P. [17650], Brazil Christella K000956613
Preston, T.A. [s.n.], Brazil Christella K000956616
s.coll. [s.n.], Brazil Christella K000956618
Heringer, E.P. [14060], Brazil Christella K000956614
Heringer, E.P. [14060], Brazil Christella K000956615
Preston, T.A. [s.n.], Brazil Christella K000956617
Heringer, E.P. [17650], Brazil Christella K000956612
Preston, T.A. [s.n.], Brazil Christella K000956619
Ratter, J.A. [3546], Brazil Christella K000956609
s.coll. [s.n.], Brazil Christella K000956621
s.coll. [s.n.], Brazil Christella K000956620
Fonseca, M.L. [1939], Brazil Christella K000956611
Ashton, P.S. [346], Sarawak Pronephrium K001053224
Jan 1, 2017 Spruce, R. [4659], Peru Goniopteris K000006961
Jan 1, 2017 Spruce, R. [4659], Peru Goniopteris K000006962
Jan 1, 2017 Edwards, P.J. [2450], Brazil Goniopteris K000956836
Jan 1, 2017 Edwards, P.J. [2450], Brazil Goniopteris K000956840
Jan 1, 2017 Spruce, R. [4659], Peru Goniopteris K000006960
Jan 1, 2017 Edwards, P.J. [2450], Brazil Goniopteris K000956839
Jan 1, 2017 Edwards, P.J. [2450], Brazil Goniopteris K000956838
Edwards, P.J. [2450], Brazil Goniopteris K000956837
Edwards, P.J. [2387], Brazil Goniopteris K000956843
Riedl [s.n.], Brazil Goniopteris K000501388
Riedl [s.n.], Brazil Goniopteris K000501389
Edwards, P.J. [2387], Brazil Goniopteris K000956841
Burchell, W. J. [3158], Brazil Goniopteris K000501390
Edwards, P.J. [2387], Brazil Goniopteris K000956845
Edwards, P.J. [2387], Brazil Goniopteris K000956847
Edwards, P.J. [2387], Brazil Goniopteris K000956846
Killip, E.P. [5038], Colombia Goniopteris K000633654
Edwards, P.J. [2387], Brazil Goniopteris K000956844
Edwards, P.J. [2387], Brazil Goniopteris K000956842
Greene, L. [HS10], Bermuda Cyclosorus K000297836
Hamilton, M.A. [HS608], Bermuda Cyclosorus K000297835
Kamau [626], Kenya Cyclosorus K000696605

First published in Icon. Pl. Anal., ed. Keller: 45 (1763)

Accepted by

  • Ebihara, A. (2016). The standard of ferns and lycophytes in Japan. Nihonsan shida shokubutsu hyojun zukan 1: 1-475. Gakken Plus, Tokyo.
  • Fraser-Jenkins, C.R. & Kandel, D.R. (2019). Ferns and Fern-Allies of Nepal 2: 1-446. Government of Nepal, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Department of Plant Resources.
  • Fraser-Jenkins, C.R. & al. (2017). An Annotated Checklist of Indian Pteridophytes 1: 1-562. Dehra Dun : BSMPS.
  • Roskov Y. & al. (eds.) (2018). World Ferns: Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Literature

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Ic. Pl. ed. Keller: 45, t. 11, 13 (1763)

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    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 Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Plants and People Africa

    Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/