''Vittaria'', the shoestring ferns, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s in the

Vittarioideae Vittarioideae is a subfamily of the fern family Pteridaceae, in the order Polypodiales. The subfamily includes the previous families Adiantaceae (adiantoids or maidenhair ferns) and Vittariaceae (vittarioids or shoestring ferns). Description The ...

subfamily of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Pteridaceae Pteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, including some 1150 known species in ca 45 genera (depending on taxonomic opinions), divided over five subfamilies. The family includes four groups of genera that are sometimes recogni ...

. It had previously been placed in the family Vittariaceae,Karl U. Kramer. 1990. "Vittariaceae". pages 272-277. In: Klaus Kubitzki (general editor); Karl U. Kramer and Peter S. Green (volume editors) ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume I. Springer-Verlag: Berlin;Heidelberg, Germany. but that family is no longer recognized.Alan R. Smith, Kathleen M. Pryer, Eric Schuettpelz, Petra Korall, Harald Schneider, and Paul G. Wolf. 2008. "Davalliaceae". pages 443-444. In: "Fern Classification". pages 417-467. In: Tom A. Ranker and Christopher H. Haufler (editors). ''Biology and Evolution of Ferns and Lycophytes''. Cambridge University Press. ''Vittaria'' consists of epiphytes, with

simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by Johnn ...

entire Entire may refer to: * Entire function, a function that is holomorphic on the whole complex plane * Entire (animal), an indication that an animal is not neutered * Entire (botany) This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of ...

, narrowly

linear Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

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 ...

s.David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. It comprises six

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, five of which are

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the

neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

. ''Vittaria isoetifolia'' is native to

tropical Africa Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the trop ...

and islands of the southwestern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

.Edmund H. Crane. 1997. "A Revised Circumscription of the Genera of the Fern Family Vittariaceae". ''Systematic Botany'' 22(3):509-517. ''Vittaria isoetifolia'' and ''Vittaria lineata'' are known, albeit rarely, in cultivation.

Anthony Huxley Anthony Julian Huxley (2 December 1920 – 26 December 1992) was a British botanist. He edited ''Amateur Gardening'' from 1967 to 1971, and was vice-president of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1991. He was the son of Julian Huxley. He was ...

, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (1992). ''The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening''. The Macmillan Press,Limited: London. The Stockton Press: New York. (set). ''Vittaria'' was named by

James Edward Smith James Edward Smith may refer to: * James Edward Smith (botanist), English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society * James Edward Smith (murderer), American murderer * James Edward Smith (politician), Canadian businessman and mayor of Toronto * ...

in 1793 ''Vittaria'' in International Plant Names Index. (see ''External links'' below). in ''Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences (Turin)''.James Edward Smith. 1793. ''Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences (Turin)'' 5:413, pl. 9. The generic name is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, ''vitta'', meaning "a band or ribbon".Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume IV, page ?. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. (set). (see ''External links'' below). In 1990, ''Vittaria'' was defined broadly and estimated to have between 50 and 80 species. The genus is difficult to divide into species, and many of the species are only doubtfully distinct. In a 1997 revision of the vittarioid ferns, only 34 species were recognized in ''Vittaria''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

. Twenty of these were transferred to '' Haplopteris'' and eight to '' Radiovittaria'', leaving only six in ''Vittaria''.

Species

''Vittaria'' includes the following species: * '' Vittaria appalachiana'' * '' Vittaria dimorpha'' (= ''V. bradeorum'' ) * '' Vittaria flavicosta'' * '' Vittaria graminifolia'' * '' Vittaria isoetifolia'' * '' Vittaria lineata'' * '' Vittaria longipes'' * '' Vittaria scabrida'' (doubtfully distinct from ''V. graminifolia'')

Former species

Transferred to ''Haplopteris''

* '' Vittaria anguste-elongata'' Hayata * '' Vittaria angustifolia'' Blume * '' Vittaria doniana'' Mettenius ex Hieron. * '' Vittaria elongata'' Sw. * '' Vittaria ensiformis'' Sw. * '' Vittaria flexuosa'' Fée * '' Vittaria forrestiana'' Ching * '' Vittaria fudzinoi'' Makino * '' Vittaria guineensis'' Desvaux * '' Vittaria hainanensis'' C. Chr. ex Ching * '' Vittaria himalayensis'' Ching * '' Vittaria longicoma''

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

* '' Vittaria malayensis''

Holttum Richard Eric Holttum (20 July 189518 September 1990) was an English botanist and writer. Early life Holttum was born 20 July 1895 in Cambridgeshire, England, to English store owners of Quaker faith. He was educated at Bootham School, York. He s ...

* '' Vittaria modesta'' Handel-Mazzetti * '' Vittaria owariensis'' Fée * '' Vittaria scolopendrina'' ( Bory) Schkuhr ex Thwaites * '' Vittaria sikkimensis'' Kuhn * '' Vittaria taeniophylla'' Copeland * '' Vittaria volkensii''

Hieronymus Hieronymus, in English pronounced or , is the Latin form of the Ancient Greek name (Hierṓnymos), meaning "with a sacred name". It corresponds to the English given name Jerome. Variants * Albanian: Jeronimi * Arabic: جيروم (Jerome) * Basq ...

* '' Vittaria zosterifolia''

Willdenow Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was al ...

Transferred to ''Radiovittaria''

* '' Vittaria remota'' Fée * '' Vittaria gardneriana'' Fée * '' Vittaria latifolia'' Benedict * '' Vittaria minima'' ( Baker)

Benedict Benedict may refer to: People Names *Benedict (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Benedict (surname), including a list of people with the surname Religious figures * Pope Benedict I (died 579), head of the Catholic Chu ...

* '' Vittaria moritziana'' Mettenius * '' Vittaria ruiziana'' Fée * '' Vittaria stipitata'' Kunze * '' Vittaria williamsii'' Benedict

Species

Former species

Transferred to ''Haplopteris''

Transferred to ''Radiovittaria''

References

External links