''Pneumatopteris'' 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 ...

of about 80

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), ...

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

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 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 ...

Thelypteridaceae Thelypteridaceae is a family of about 900 species of ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae. Alternatively, the family may be submerged in a ...

. The range of the genus extends from

tropical Africa The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

, through

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 ...

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

and

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 ...

to the

Pacific islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

, including

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It was first described by Japanese botanist

Takenoshin Nakai was a Japanese botany, botanist. In 19191919. Notulae and Plantas Japoniae at Koreae X XI. The Botanical Magazine (Tokyo) 33(395): 193–194. and 1930,1930. Plantae Japonicae & Koreanae. The Botanical Magazine (Tokyo) 44(526): 508. he published p ...

in 1933. The name comes from the Greek ''pneuma'' (air, wind or breath), and ''pteris'' (a fern), with reference to the aerophores in some species.

Species

* ''Pneumatopteris afra'' (Christ) Holttum * ''Pneumatopteris costata'' (Brack.) Holttum * ''

Pneumatopteris pennigera ''Pakau pennigera'', commonly known as lime fern, gully fern, feather fern and piupiu, is a small fern found in south eastern Australia and New Zealand. It grows along streams, and is also seen in areas of open forest. This fern is found in Tas ...

'' (G.Forst.) Holttum * ''Pneumatopteris sandwicensis'' * ''

Pneumatopteris truncata ''Pneumatopteris truncata'', also known as the Christmas Island fern, is a species of terrestrial fern in the Thelypteridaceae family. Description The species grows as a large upright fern with 80–120 cm long fronds. Distribution and ...

'' (Poir.) Holttum

References

Fern genera Taxa named by Takenoshin Nakai Plants described in 1933 {{Polypodiales-stub