Athyrium

Athyrium
Athyrium filix-femina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Suborder: Aspleniineae
Family: Athyriaceae
Genus: Athyrium
Roth
19th-century illustration of A. filix-femina

Athyrium (lady-fern) is a genus of about 180 species of terrestrial ferns, with a cosmopolitan distribution. It is placed in the family Athyriaceae, in the order Polypodiales.[1][2] Its genus name is from Greek a- ('without') and Latinized Greek thyreos ('shield'), describing its inconspicuous indusium (sorus' covering).[3] The common name "lady fern" refers in particular to the common lady fern, Athyrium filix-femina.[4]

Athyrium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the small angle shades and Sthenopis auratus.

Species

There are about 180, including:

References

  1. ^ Alan R. Smith; Kathleen M. Pryer; Eric Schuettpelz; Petra Korall; Harald Schneider; Paul G. Wolf (2006). "A classification for extant ferns" (PDF). Taxon. 55 (3): 705–731. doi:10.2307/25065646. JSTOR 25065646. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-26.
  2. ^ Maarten J. M. Christenhusz, Xian-Chun Zhang & Harald Schneider (2011). "A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns" (PDF). Phytotaxa. 19: 7–54. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.2.
  3. ^ Lloyd H. Snyder Jr.; James G. Bruce (1 October 1986). Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia. University of Georgia Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-8203-2385-5. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  4. ^ Entry "lady fern", New Oxford American Dictionary 3rd edition (2010) by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Athyrium.