Cinnamon fern

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cinnamon fern
Developing spore-bearing and multiple sterile fronds in late spring

Developing spore-bearing and multiple sterile fronds in late spring

Systematics
Department : Vascular plants (tracheophyta)
Class : True ferns (Polypodiopsida)
Order : Royal ferns (Osmundales)
Family : King fern family (Osmundaceae)
Genre : Osmundastrum
Type : Cinnamon fern
Scientific name of the  genus
Osmundastrum
C. Presl
Scientific name of the  species
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
( L. ) C. Presl

The cinnamon fern ( Osmundastrum cinnamomeum , Syn .: Osmunda cinnamomea L.) is the only species of the Osmundastrum plant genus within the family of the royal fern family (Osmundaceae). It is widespread from North America through Mexico and the Caribbean Islands to Central and South America and in East Asia . It thrives in quarries , moors, and damp forests. It has been occupied since the Campanium . The TNC classifies Osmundastrum cinnamomeum as probably not endangered (“G4”). An English-language common name is cinnamon fern.

description

Close up of the leaflets on a sterile frond
Sterile fronds in late summer

The cinnamon fern is a deciduous herbaceous plant . It produces separate fertile and sterile fronds. The sterile fronds are ovate to lanceolate in outline. They are spread out, 30 to 150 centimeters (in China only up to 80 centimeters) long and 15 to 25 centimeters wide, pinnate with 5 to 20 centimeters long and 1.5 to 3 centimeters wide deep lobes, so that the fronds appear almost double-pinnate . They are dense, light brown haired when young and bald with age. The upper leaflets are entire and at the upper end pointed to prickly.

The fertile spore- bearing fronds are erect and shorter, 20 to 45 centimeters high; they become cinnamon-colored, which gives this plant species its common name cinnamon fern and the specific epithet. The fertile fronds appear first; their initially green color becomes increasingly brown as the season progresses. The spore-bearing fronds survive until the next growing season, after the frost has let them die. The spores develop within a few weeks.

Spore-bearing frond

Ecology and use

Cinnamon ferns form huge clonal colonies in fractured areas. The ferns form firm rhizomes with dense, hair-like roots. The root mass forms an excellent substrate for epiphytes . They are harvested as Osmunda fibers and used as an ornamental plant, especially for the reproduction and growth of orchids . Cinnamon is not obtained from cinnamon ferns; they are so named solely because of the color of the fertile fronds.

distribution

In North America , the cinnamon fern occurs from the southern Labrador westward to Ontario and southward over the eastern United States to eastern Mexico and the West Indies ; in South America it occurs westward to Peru and southward to Paraguay . In Asia it is distributed from southeastern Siberia southwards via Japan , Korea , China and Taiwan to Myanmar , Thailand and Vietnam .

Systematics

Traditionally, this type was Osmunda cinnamomea L. out. However, recent genetic and morphological studies (Metzgar et al. 2008; Jud et al. 2008) clearly show that the cinnamon fern is a sister species of all other living king ferns ( Osmundaceae ). From a cladistic point of view, it is either necessary to include all species of the Osmundaceae including the genera Todea and Leptopteris in the genus Osmunda , or it is necessary to separate the genus Osmundastrum . Osmundastrum cinnamomeum is the only living species in the genus Osmundastrum ; However, it may be that other fossil species also belong to the genus Osmundastrum .

In the past, some authors also included the devil fern ( Osmunda claytoniana ) in the genus or section Osmundastrum because of the large proportion of morphological similarities . More precise morphological and genetic analyzes have shown that the Osmunda claytoniana actually belongs to the genus Osmunda . This is supported by the fact that he creates the hybrid Osmunda × ruggii with the American king fern ( Osmunda spectabilis ) , and that in a family in which species hybridize, while Osmundastrum cinnamomeum has no known hybrids.

The cinnamon fern is considered a living fossil because it was found in geological layers up to 75 million years old. A more recent discovery even pushes this value up to 180 million years.

The Asian and American populations of the cinnamon fern are generally considered to be varieties of a single species, but some botanists also classify them as separate species. The Asian species is therefore described as Osmundastrum asiaticum .

Duration
Illustration from The Farrnkräuter in Colored Images Faithfully Explained and Described , 1848

use

According to the Native American Ethnobotany Database , the cinnamon fern was used as a food source by some Indian tribes ( Abenaki , Menominee ). The Iroquois and Cherokee tribes used the fern for a variety of medicinal purposes as a cold remedy for gynecological ailments, venereal diseases and snakebites.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ XCZhang, K. Iwatsuki, Y. Kadokawa: Osmundaceae. In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China. Volume 2-3: Lycopodiaceae through Polypodiaceae. Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis, 2013, ISBN 978-1-935641-11-7 . Osmundastrum cinnamomeum , pp. 90–92 - online with the same text as the printed work.
  2. ^ R. David Whetstone, TA Atkinson: Osmundaceae. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 2: Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms . Osmunda cinnamomea Linnaeus - online with the same text as the printed work.
  3. ↑ Jordan S. Metzgar, Judith E. Skog, Elizabeth A. Zimmer, Kathleen M. Pryer: The Paraphyly of Osmunda is Confirmed by Phylogenetic Analyzes of Seven Plastid Loci . In: Systematic Botany . 33, No. 1, September, pp. 31-36. doi : 10.1600 / 036364408783887528 .
  4. ^ A b c Nathan A. Jud, Gar W. Rothwell, Ruth A. Stockey: Todea from the Lower Cretaceous of western North America: Implications for the phylogeny, systematics, and evolution of modern Osmundaceae . In: Amer. J. Bot . 95, 2008, pp. 330-339. doi : 10.3732 / ajb.95.3.330 .
  5. ^ Lava fossilized this Jurassic fern down to its cells . In: New Scientist . Retrieved February 13, 2017. 
  6. ^ Alan S. Weakley: Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, and Surrounding Areas . April 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  7. ↑ work = Native American Ethnobotany Database Osmunda cinnamomea L. . Retrieved July 8, 2019.

Other sources

  • Rudolf Serbet, Gar W. Rothwell: Osmunda cinnamomea (Osmundaceae) in the Upper Cretaceous of western North America: Additional evidence for exceptional species longevity among filicalean ferns . In: International Journal of Plant Sciences . 160, 1999, pp. 425-433.

Web links

Commons : Osmundastrum cinnamomeum  - collection of images, videos and audio files