''Rumohra adiantiformis'', the leather fern or leatherleaf fern,U.S. National Plant Germplasm System; GRIN-Global Web v 1.9.7.1: Taxonomy profile of ''Rumohra adiantiformis''
/ref>Gilman, E. F
''Rumohra adiantiformis''.
Fact Sheet FPS-515. University of Florida Cooperative Extension, IFAS. 1999. is a

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), ...

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 ...

in the wood fern

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Dryopteridaceae The Dryopteridaceae are a Family (biology), family of leptosporangiate ferns in the Order (biology), order Polypodiales. They are known Common name, colloquially as the wood ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG&n ...

. It has a wide distribution, mainly in the tropical Southern Hemisphere.

Names

Other common names include leathery shieldfern, iron fern, 7-weeks-fern,De Souza, G. C., et al. (2006)
An ethnobiological assessment of ''Rumohra adiantiformis'' (samambaia-preta) extractivism in Southern Brazil.
''Biodiversity & Conservation'' 15(8), 2737-46. and climbing shield fern.

Description

Growing to tall and broad, ''Rumohra adiantiformis'' is a bushy, tufted evergreen plant with glossy dark green

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. These contain round sori (reproductive clusters) on the underside of the pinnae (leaflets) unlike many other ferns which have separate specialized reproductive fronds. Many of the sori have protective

peltate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

indusia (films), and prominent scales on the stipes of the fronds.

Distribution

''Rumohra adiantiformis'' is native to South America, the Caribbean, southern Africa, the Western Indian Ocean islands, Papua New Guinea, and Australasia. Countries it is native to include such diverse places as Brazil and Colombia, the Galápagos Islands, the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean, Zimbabwe and South Africa Australia, and New Zealand.

Ecology

An example of plant associations of ''Rumohra adiantiformis'' is found in the Westland podocarp/broadleaf forests of New Zealand, with flora associates including '' Ascarina lucida'', '' Pseudowintera colorata'', '' Neopanax colensoi'', '' Alsophila smithii'', and '' Blechnum discolor''.

Cultivation

The fern is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

for

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows low over an area of ground, which protects the topsoil from erosion and drought. In a terrestrial ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as the ...

and in

floristry Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers ...

. As it is a tropical plant with only limited protection against frost, in

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ra ...

s it is normally grown under glass as a houseplant. In the UK it has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. It is of economic importance in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, where thousands of people generate their income by wild-harvesting and selling the fronds for use in flower arrangements.

References

External links

Friday Fellow: Leatherleaf Fern
at Earthling Nature. {{Authority control Dryopteridaceae Ferns of Africa Ferns of the Americas Ferns of Asia Ferns of Oceania Flora of northern South America Flora of southern South America Flora of western South America Ferns of Argentina Ferns of Brazil Ferns of Chile Flora of the Galápagos Islands Flora of the Caribbean Flora of the Western Indian Ocean Flora of South Africa Flora of Zimbabwe Ferns of New Zealand Ferns of Australia Flora of Tasmania Flora of Papua New Guinea Garden plants