Pteris vittata

Pteris vittata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Pteridaceae
Genus: Pteris
Species:
P. vittata
Binomial name
Pteris vittata
Synonyms[3]
  • Pteris costata Bory
  • P. diversifolia Sw.
  • P. ensifolia Poir.
  • P. inaequilateralis Poir.
  • P. longifolia Wall.
  • P. microdonata Gaudin
  • P. vittata fo. cristata Ching in Ching & S.H.Wu
  • Pycnodoria vittata (L.) Small

Pteris vittata, the Chinese brake,[4] Chinese ladder brake,[4] or simply ladder brake,[4] is a fern species in the Pteridoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae.[5] In the Ghanaian Akan dialect, it is called "Ayan". It is indigenous to Asia, southern Europe, tropical Africa (West and South Africa), and Australia.[4] The type specimen was collected in China by Pehr Osbeck.[2]

Habitat and distribution

Pteris vittata is native and widespread in the paleotropics: found from the west(in Ghana; Togo; Cote D'Ivoire; Benin), east, to the south tropical, and southern Africa (in Angola; Kenya; Lesotho; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Tanzania (including the Zanzibar Archipelago); Cape Province, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Transvaal in South Africa; Eswatini; Uganda; Zambia; and Zimbabwe); temperate and tropical Asia (in the provinces of Anhui, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xizang, and Yunnan in China; the prefectures of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan; and Thailand); and Australia, in the states of New South Wales,[6] Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia.[4]

Pteris vittata is often associated with limestone habitats. It may be seen growing on concrete structures and cracks, in buildings in the central business district and suburbs of Sydney.[6][7] It is an introduced species in California, Texas, and the Southeastern United States.[8]

A remnant population exists in the Italian peninsula, in Sicily, Calabria and Campania.[9]

Uses

Although it grows readily in the wild, Pteris vittata is sometimes cultivated.[4] It is grown in gardens for its attractive appearance,[4] or used in pollution control schemes:[4] it is known to be a hyperaccumulator plant of arsenic used in phytoremediation.[10]

Suggested reading

  • Cong Tu and Lena Q. Ma; Effects of Arsenic Concentrations and Forms on Arsenic Uptake by the Hyperaccumulator Ladder Brake, Journal of Environmental Quality doi:10.2134/jeq2002.6410 Vol. 31 No. 2, p. 641-647 (résumé)

References

  1. ↑ Lansdown, R.V. (2013). "Pteris vittata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013 e.T177137A1468608. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  2. 1 2  Pteris vittata was originally described and published in Species Plantarum 2: 1074. 1753. "Name - Pteris vittata L." Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Name - Pteris vittata L. synonyms". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Pteris vittata". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  5. ↑ Christenhusz, Maarten J. M.; Zhang, Xian-Chun; Schneider, Harald (18 February 2011). "A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns" (PDF). Phytotaxa. 19: 7–54. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.2. ISSN 1179-3163.
  6. 1 2 "Pteris vittata, PlantNET - NSW Flora Online, Retrieved June 23, 2011".
  7. ↑ Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, ISBN 978-0-7318-1211-0 page 318
  8. ↑ "USDA Plants Database". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  9. ↑ Giardina G. (2010). Piante rare della Sicilia. Palermo: Università degli Studi di Palermo. ISBN 978-88-903108-3-6.
  10. ↑ Wilkins, Carolyn, and Salter, Leo. (2003). Arsenic hyperaccumulation in ferns: A review. Environmental Chemistry Group Bulletin of the Royal Society of Chemistry. July 2003 edition.
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