''Grammitis'' (dwarf polypody) 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 had formerly been placed in the family

Grammitidaceae 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 and New World. This group ...

, but this family is no longer recognized by most authors because

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analyses of

DNA sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...

s have shown that it is embedded in Polypodiaceae.Harald Schneider, Hans-Peter Krier, Rosemary Wilson, and Alan R. Smith. 2006. "The Synammia Enigma: Evidence for a Temperate Lineage of Polygrammoid Ferns (Polypodiaceae, Polypodiidae) in Southern South America". ''Systematic Botany'' 31(1):31-41. The

delimitation Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...

of ''Grammitis'' was drastically narrowed in the first decade of the 21st century. It now contains about 25

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. In 2003, a study of the

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

of grammitid ferns placed 11 species in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, 7 in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and 4 in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

.Barbara S. Parris. 2003. "The distribution of Grammitidaceae (Filicales) inside and outside Malesia". ''Telopea'' 10(2):451-466. The genus ''Grammitis'' was established by

Olof Swartz Olof Peter Swartz (21 September 1760 – 19 September 1818) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes, but also studied orchids, mosses and lichens. Biography Olof Swartz a ...

around 1801.Olof Swartz. about 1801. "Genera et Species Filicum" In: ''Schrader's Journal für die Botanik''. page 17. (see ''External links'' below). (sources vary on the exact date). The

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

is derived from

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 ...

, ''gramma, grammatos'' meaning "a line or thread" and refers to the arrangement of the sori in some species.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume II. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. (vol II). (see ''External links'' below). The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

for ''Grammitis'' is ''

Grammitis marginella ''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 ...

''. The only known

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 ...

of a grammitid fern has been named ''Grammitis succinea'', but it is not clear that it belongs to ''Grammitis'' as more recently defined. It was found in

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

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

Circumscription

In a treatment of Grammitidaceae in 1990, Barbara S. Parris defined ''Grammitis'' broadly, to include about 400 species.Barbara S. Parris. 1990. "Grammitidaceae" pages 153-157. 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. At that time, she stated that "The treatment of ''Grammitis'' here as a large and diverse genus reflects our current lack of knowledge concerning relationships within the family". Other authors at that time

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

''Grammitis'' more narrowly, to include about 200 species. Since about 2003, ''Grammitis'' has been understood as a genus of about 25 species with the other species to be eventually transferred to other genera, most of them new or resurrected. ''Grammitis''

sensu strictissimo ''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 co ...

(about 25 species) is distinguished by its black, sclerified leaf margins.Tom A. Ranker. 2008. "A New Combination in ''Adenophorus'' (Polypodiaceae)". ''American Fern Journal'' 98(3):170-177. It is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to the

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

genus Cochlidium. In 2004, ''Grammitis'' was shown to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

if broadly circumscribed.Tom A. Ranker, Alan R. Smith, Barbara S. Parris, Jennifer M.O. Geiger, Christopher H. Haufler, Shannon C.K. Straub, and Harald Schneider. 2004. "Phylogeny and evolution of grammitid ferns (Grammitidaceae): a case of rampant morphological homoplasy". ''Taxon'' 53(2):415-428. ''Grammitis tenella'' had been shown to be closely related to ''

Adenophorus ''Adenophorus'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is endemic to Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U. ...

'' in 2003,Tom A. Ranker, Jennifer M.O. Geiger, S.C. Kennedy, Alan R. Smith, Christopher H. Haufler, and Barbara S. Parris. 2003. "Molecular phylogenetics and evolution of the endemic Hawaiian genus ''Adenophorus'' (Grammitidaceae)" ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 26(3):337-347. and the new combination ''

Adenophorus tenellus ''Adenophorus'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is endemic to Hawaii.Ranker, T. A. (1992). ''Adenophorus'' x ...

'' was published in 2008. Several species formerly in ''Grammitis'' have been transferred to '' Oreogrammitis''. These include '' Oreogrammitis clemensiae'', '' Oreogrammitis hookeri'', and others.Barbara S. Parris. 2007. "Five new genera and three new species of Grammitidaceae (Filicales) and the re-establishment of Oreogrammitis". ''Gardens' Bulletin. Singapore'' 58(2):233-274. The genera ''

Ctenopterella ''Ctenopterella'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). It is known from Africa through southeast Asia and Oceania to Polynes ...

Dasygrammitis ''Dasygrammitis'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). It is known from Sri Lanka through southeast Asia and the Philippines ...

, Radiogrammitis, Tomophyllum'', and '' Xiphopterella'' were established in 2007 and some of these contain species that were formerly in ''Grammitis''. '' Lellingeria tomensis'' was moved out of ''Grammitis'' to '' Lellingeria'' in 2004.Barbara S. Parris. 2004. "New combinations in ''Acrosorus, Lellingeria, Prosaptia'', and ''Themelium'' (Grammitidaceae: Filicales)" ''Kew Bulletin'' 59(2):223-225. Transfers to other genera have also been made. The

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

of '' Grammitis basalis'', '' Grammitis recondita'', and others remains undecided.

Species

The species list is incomplete and may contain

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. It was originally based on two very old sources. Edwin B. Copeland. 1956. Key to Subgenus Melanoloma page 253. In: "Grammitis" pages 93-278. In: ''Philippine Journal of Science'' 80(2).L. Earl Bishop. 1977. "The American Species of ''Grammitis'' Sect. Grammitis". ''American Fern Journal'' 67(4):101-106.

Circumscription

Species

Transferred species

References

External links