''Ctenopterella'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s in the family

Polypodiaceae Polypodiaceae is a Family (biology), family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family includes around 65 genus, genera and an estimated 1,650 species and is placed in the order Polypodiales, suborder ...

, subfamily

Grammitidoideae Grammitidoideae is a subfamily of the fern family Polypodiaceae, whose members are informally known as grammitids. It comprises a clade of about 750 species. They are distributed over higher elevations in both the Old World, Old and New World. T ...

, according to the

Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group (PPG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish on the classification of pteridophytes ( lycophytes and ferns) that reflects knowledge about plant relationships discove ...

classification of 2016 (PPG I). It is known from Africa through southeast Asia and Oceania to Polynesia.

Description

The rhizomes are dorsiventral (having upper and lower surfaces clearly distinct in appearance), and bear two rows of stipes, which sometimes have distinct joints where they attach. Distinct phyllopodia are present in some below the joint. The rhizome scales are brown, glabrous, and dull to glossy. Hairs, where present, are unbranched and branched, from whitish to brown in color. The leaf blades range from

pinnatifid Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

to pinnate-pinnatifid in cutting, bearing free veins which usually end in

hydathode A hydathode is a type of pore, commonly found in vascular plants, that secretes water through pores in the epidermis or leaf margin, typically at the tip of a marginal tooth or serration. Hydathodes occur in the leaves of submerged aquatic plant ...

s on the upper surface of the leaf. Sori are borne beneath pinnae or lobes, sometimes slightly sunken into the leaf tissue, usually in two rows but rarely in one. The sori are circular to elliptic in shape; the

sporangia A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

lack hairs.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described by Barbara Parris in 2007 to receive some of the species of the polyphyletic genus '' Ctenopteris''; ''Ctenopterella'' is a diminutive form of that name. She initially placed twelve species in the genus. In 2013, she described a new species, '' Ctenopterella gabonensis'', from the Monts Doudou in

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

, and transferred a Vietnamese species, '' Ctenopterella nhatrangensis'', into the genus. In 2015, she transferred three more species from ''Ctenopteris'', including one she had formerly placed in synonymy, in preparation for a monograph on the genus. , the only phylogenetic study so far to include any ''Ctenopterella'' species sampled ''Ctenopterella denticulata'' only. It found that this species, ''

Acrosorus friderici-et-pauli ''Acrosorus friderici-et-pauli'' is a species of fern in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). It is native to Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, Vietnam, th ...

'' (the type of its genus), and ''

Grammitis stenophylla ''Grammitis'' (dwarf polypody) is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). It had formerly been placed in the family Grammitidacea ...

'' form a clade sister to the combined clade of '' Oreogrammitis'', '' Prosaptia'', '' Radiogrammitis'', and '' Themelium''. None of the three taxa in the first clade are particularly close morphologically. ''Ctenopterella denticulata'' has since been transferred to the genus '' Oxygrammitis'' as '' Oxygrammitis denticulata''. In addition to ''Oxygrammitis'', other species have been transferred to '' Boonkerdia'' and '' Rouhania''.

Species

, the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' accepted the following ten species: *'' Ctenopterella blechnoides'' (Grev.) Parris *''Ctenopterella fluvialis'' Parris, sp. ined. *'' Ctenopterella gordonii'' (S.B.Andrews) Parris *'' Ctenopterella khaoluangensis'' (Tagawa & K.Iwats.) Parris *'' Ctenopterella lasiostipes'' (Mett.) Parris *'' Ctenopterella lepida'' (Brause) Parris *'' Ctenopterella nhatrangensis'' (C.Chr. & Tardieu) Parris *'' Ctenopterella pacifica'' Parris *'' Ctenopterella pediculata'' (Baker) Parris *'' Ctenopterella seemannii'' (J.Sm.) Parris *'' Ctenopterella vodonaivalui'' (Brownlie) Parris

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17187669 Polypodiaceae Fern genera