''Dipteris'' is a genus of about seven species of

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, native to tropical regions across the world, particularly

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, with a species in northeastern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is one of two genera in the family Dipteridaceae.

Description

Species of ''Dipteris'' grow from creeping

rhizomes In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

, and have large stalks to the sporangium and annulus. The rhizomes have

bristle A bristle is a stiff hair or feather (natural or artificial), either on an animal, such as a pig, a plant, or on a tool such as a brush or broom. Synthetic types Synthetic materials such as nylon are also used to make bristles in items such as b ...

s (or hairs) and the fronds have uniseriate hairs (having one line or series). All species of ''Dipteris'' have spore-capsules that are carried on the lower surface of the broad lobed

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

.A. C. Seward The fronds can reach up to 50 cm long.

Taxonomy

Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (5 June 1773 in Lüttringhausen – 6 March 1854 in Leiden) was a Germans, Prussian-born Netherlands, Dutch botanist. He is considered to be the founding father of Bogor Botanical Garden in Indonesia. Biography ...

first published the genus in 1825, by describing ''Dipteris conjugata'' Reinw. which is the best known species. In 1839, R. Brown reduced the genus to a subgenus of ''

Polypodium ''Polypodium'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is widely distributed throughout the world, with the highest ...

''. In 1901, Konrad Christ published ''Die Farnkrauter der Erde't'', within which he included the genus ''Dipteris'' 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 ...

, (a subdivision of the Polypodiacea). It was then later placed into a separate genus,A. C. Seward Bower (1928), Ching (1940) and Pichi-Sermolli (1958) all having recreated the family Dipteridaceae, then comprising only one genus, ''Dipteris'', due to the differences in

sporangium 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 ...

stomata In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange between the internal air spa ...

and

gametophyte A gametophyte () is one of the two alternating multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a haploid multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore that has one set of chromosomes. The gametophyte is the se ...

.Peter H. Hovenkamp The Latin genus name ''Dipteris'' refers to an amalgamation of two terms: ''di'' meaning two, and ''pteris''

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word used for ferns generally, meaning wing-like.

Taxonomy

, ''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

'' and the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' recognized seven species: *'' Dipteris chinensis''

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

– Tropical Asia and Australasia *'' Dipteris conjugata'' Reinw. – Indochina to Australia (Queensland), and some islands in the Pacific Ocean *'' Dipteris lobbiana'' (Hook.) T. Moore *'' Dipteris nieuwenhuisii'' Christ *'' Dipteris novoguineensis'' Posth. *'' Dipteris papilioniformis'' Kjellb. *'' Dipteris wallichii'' (R. Br.) T. Moore –

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Cuba, Hispaniola ''Dipteris polyphyllus'', a species from

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

has not been fully accepted as a species.

Distribution and habitat

Many species are found in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

, growing beside '' Matonia'' (another fern species). Most of the species grow on rocks, exposed places, clearings and in thickets.K.U. Kramer, Klaus Kubitzki, P.S. Green (Editors)

Fossils

The genus has been found to have been widely distributed during the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

period,R.D. Preton and H.W. Woolhouse of the

Mesozoic Era The Mesozoic Era is the era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian reptiles such as the dinosaurs, and of gymnosperms s ...

when much of the genus was widely distributed around

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Such

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s have been found in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...

(island),

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, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

References

Other sources

* Douglas Houghton Campbell, The Evolution of the Land Plants (Embryophyta), 1940 * Anil Kumar, Botany for Degree Pteridophyta, 2006 * Sir Arthur George Tansley, The New Phytologist, 1956

External links

* http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=3&taxon_id=110503 Flora of China {{Taxonbar, from=Q2103553 Gleicheniales Fern genera