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] It is indigenous to Asia, southern Europe, tropical Africa, and Australia.[4] The type specimen was collected in China by Pehr Osbeck.[2]
| Pteris vittata | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Polypodiales |
| Family: | Pteridaceae |
| Genus: | Pteris |
| Species: | P. vittata
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| Binomial name | |
| Pteris vittata | |
| Synonyms[3] | |
Habitat and distribution
editPteris vittata is native and widespread in the paleotropics: found from the 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
editAlthough 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]
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Pteris vittata from Antalya city in Turkey -
Pinnae undersides of P. vittata from Antalya -
Sori of P. vittata from Antalya -
Pinna basal shape (underside) of P. vittata from Antalya -
Pinna basal shape (upperside) of P. vittata from Antalya -
Young P. vittata from Antalya -
Unfurling frond tip of P. vittata from Antalya -
Unfurling fronds of P. vittata from Antalya
Suggested reading
edit- 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
edit- ^ Lansdown, R.V. (2013). "Pteris vittata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T177137A1468608. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Name - Pteris vittata L. synonyms". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Pteris vittata". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Pteris vittata, PlantNET - NSW Flora Online, Retrieved June 23, 2011".
- ^ Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, ISBN 978-0-7318-1211-0 page 318
- ^ "USDA Plants Database". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
- ^ Giardina G. (2010). Piante rare della Sicilia. Palermo: Università degli Studi di Palermo. ISBN 9788890310836.
- ^ 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.