Angiopteris


Angiopteris is a genus of huge evergreen ferns from the family Marattiaceae, found throughout the paleotropics from Madagascar to the South Pacific islands.
They feature a large, erect, woody rhizome with a wide base supported by thick roots. The fronds are deltoid, pinnate, long, with spreading leaflets. At the base of the fronds is a pair of thick, leathery stipules — in the case of A. canaliculata, measuring up to long and wide. Species of smaller stature with elongate synangia and creeping rhizomes are sometimes segregated into the genus Archangiopteris, and a once-pinnate monotypic segregate genus has been called Macroglossum, but molecular data supports inclusion of these taxa within a broad concept of Angiopteris.
Angiopteris is unique among ferns in having explosively dispersed spores, thought to be caused by the cavitation of an airspace between spore layers. The basal chromosome number for this genus is 2n=80. The type species is Angiopteris evecta.
Angiopteris evecta has been introduced and naturalized in Hawaii, Jamaica, and parts of Central America, where it has become an invasive weed in lower elevation drainages.

Taxonomy

The Smith et al. classification of 2006, based on molecular phylogeny, placed Angiopteris in Marattiaceae. Subsequent classifications have maintained this placement.

Species

Angiopteris taxonomy is poorly understood, with nearly 200 poorly defined species having been named, only a small handful of which are recognized in modern floras as of 2022.
Phylogeny of Angiopteris
Unassigned species: