Woodwardia prolifera

Woodwardia prolifera (Chinese: 珠芽狗脊) is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae.They can be found in China, Japan and the Himalayas.[1][2] It was first described by Sir William Jackson Hooker and Walker Arnott in 1838.[3]

Woodwardia prolifera
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Suborder: Aspleniineae
Family: Blechnaceae
Genus: Woodwardia
Species:
W. prolifera
Binomial name
Woodwardia prolifera
Hooker & Arnott 1838

Distribution

This species can be found growing around coastal locations, mountain slopes and near streams. They usually occur in wet conditions at elevations between 100 – 1,100m.[4][1]

Description

Their fronds are between 1.5 – 3m in length and can vary in colour from green to orange. They have pink-orange plantlets. These evergreen plants usually grow in chalky, acidic soil under light shade.[5][4][6][2]

They are also a diploid species.[4][5] Their spores are between 75 – 78 microns long and their guard cells are between 35 – 51 microns long.[7]

Taxonomy

This species is known by the names W. orientalis var. prolifera or var. formosana. Although its possible to visually distinguish, they are closely related to and are sometimes confused with Woodwardia orientalis.[5][2]

Cultivation

This species is a popular plant in horticulture. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[8]

They can be propagated by pegging down their fronds and then letting the plantlets or bulbils create roots before removing them from the frond. The bulbils or plantlets can also be planted separately although high humidity is required.[4] They can also be easily propagated with spores.[4]

Chemistry

Three different lignans, blechnic acid, 7-epiblechnic acid, and brainic acid are known to be present in Woodwardia prolifera.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Woodwardia prolifera in Flora of China @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  2. "Pan-Global Plants - Ferns". Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  3. "Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage ; comprising an account of the plants collected by Messrs. Lay and Collie... | International Plant Names Index". www.ipni.org. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  4. Pyner, Tim. "Woodwardia in cultivation" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society.
  5. Pyner, Tim (2014-11-16). "Woodwardia orientalis in cultivation". The British Pteridological Society. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  6. "Woodwardia prolifera, syn. Woodwardia orientalis var. formosana". les-jardins-decoute-sil-pleut.com. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  7. Pyner, Tim (2014-11-19). "Woodwardia orientalis and W. prolifera update". The British Pteridological Society. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  8. "AGM Plants March 2020 © RHS – ORNAMENTAL" (PDF). The Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  9. Wada, Hiroshi; Kido, Tsunehiro; Tanaka, Nobutoshi; Murakami, Takao; Saiki, Yasuhisa; Chen, Chiu-Ming (1992). "Chemical and Chemotaxonomical Studies of Ferns. LXXXI. Characteristic Lignans of Blechnaceous Ferns". Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 40 (8): 2099–2101. doi:10.1248/cpb.40.2099. ISSN 0009-2363.

Further reading


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