| Gleichenia | |
|---|---|
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| Gleichenia microphylla, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Gleicheniales |
| Family: | Gleicheniaceae |
| Genus: | Gleichenia Sm. |
| Type species | |
| Gleichenia polypodioides (L.) Smith
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| Species | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Gleichenia is a genus of ferns.[2] Its closest relative is the genus Stromatopteris,[3] restricted to New Caledonia.
Description
These ferns have creeping rhizomes. The compound eaves fork multiple times, with the final leaf lobes ending in a pinnate arrangement. The sori are found at the bottom of the leaves and are made of a few sporangia. They are not covered by an indusium (protective covering).[4] The sori occur in a unique chamber in the laminar pits - a feature found only in this genus.[5]
Fossil record
The fossil record indicates that this genus had emerged by the late Jurassic period, although it was far more common in the early Cretaceous period.[6] There is some evidence that it may have emerged even earlier - in the upper Triassic period.[7] There are, however, multiple genera in the fossil record that show a similar leaf branching pattern to Gleichenia, which can make it difficult to determine the exact identity of a specimen that does not have adequately preserved fruiting bodies.[8]
Fossils have been found in across a wide geographic range including:
- The Pariwar formation in India (Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary)
- Gardeshwar in India (early Cretaceous)[9]
- The Silty Beds of Bedfordshire in England (early Albian age, early Cretaceous).[10]
- The USA (Cretaceous)[7]
- New South Wales, Australia (Miocene epoch, Neogene period)[5]
Phylogeny
The following species are recognised as of February 2023:[1][2][11][12]
Phylogeny of Gleichenia[13][14]
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Unassigned species:
- Gleichenia alstonii Holttum
- Gleichenia elongata Baker
- Gleichenia matthewii Holttum
- Gleichenia paleacea (Copel.) Holttum
- Gleichenia peltophora Copel.
- Gleichenia ×punctulata Colenso
- Gleichenia vulcanica Blume
References
- ^ a b "Gleichenia". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Genus Gleichenia". PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ^ Pryer, K. M., E. Schuettpelz, P. G. Wolf, H. Schneider, A. R. Smith, and R. Cranfill (2004). Phylogeny and Evolution of Ferns (Monilophytes) with a Focus on the Early Leptosporangiate Divergences. American Journal of Botany 91 (10): 1582–98.
- ^ Levyns, M.R. (1966). A Guide to the Flora of the Cape Peninsula (2nd Revised ed.). Juta & Company, Limited. OCLC 621340.
- ^ a b Cantrill, David J.; Ohlsen, Daniel; McCurry, Matthew R.; Frese, Michael (2023-03-01). "Gleichenia nagalingumiae sp. nov., a remarkably well-preserved fossil species with in situ spores from the Miocene of Australia". Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 310 104823. Bibcode:2023RPaPa.31004823C. doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104823. ISSN 0034-6667. S2CID 254620225.
- ^ Bose, M.N.; Kumaran, K.P.N.; Baneiji, J. (1982). "Pachypteris haburensisn. sp. and other plant fossils from the Pariwar Formation". Palaeobotanist. 30 (1): 1–11.
- ^ a b Knowlton, Frank Hall (1913). "Description of a new fossil fern of the genus Gleichenia from the Upper Cretaceous of Wyoming" (PDF). Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 45 (1994): 555–558. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.45-1994.555.
- ^ Vera, Ezequiel I.; Passalia, Mauro G. (2012). "Korallipteris, a new genus for Mesozoic Gleichenia-like fern fronds". Geobios. 45 (4): 421–428. Bibcode:2012Geobi..45..421V. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2011.09.002. hdl:11336/68155.
- ^ Jana, Brajendra Nath; King, Sarah C.; Hilton, Jason (2013-09-05). "Revision of the Cretaceous fossil plant-assemblage from Gardeshwar (Gujarat, India): A conifer dominated floral association from an Upper Gondwana sequence on the West Coast of India". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 73: 128–138. Bibcode:2013JAESc..73..128J. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.04.021. ISSN 1367-9120.
- ^ Herendeen, Patrick S.; Skog, Judith E. (1998). "Gleichenia chaloneri-a New Fossil Fern from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of England". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 159 (5): 870–879. doi:10.1086/297609. ISSN 1058-5893. S2CID 84898595.
- ^ "Helechos". Enciclopedia de la Flora Chilena. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- ^ Hassler, Michael (2004–2023). "Gleichenia Smith". World Plants: Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. 15.1. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
- ^ Nitta, Joel H.; Schuettpelz, Eric; Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Iwasaki, Wataru; et al. (2022). "An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life". Frontiers in Plant Science. 13 909768. doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.909768. PMC 9449725. PMID 36092417.
- ^ "Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL". FTOL v1.7.0 (GenBank release 261). 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
External links
Classification of Archaeplastida or Plantae s.l. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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