Vittaria graminifolia Kaulfuss. Common name: Grass Fern. Habitat: Epiphytic on trunk base of beech (Fagus grandifolia), in crevices of Altamaha Grit sandstone in the Coastal Plain of GA, and XXX (in AL). Distribution: LA (St. Helena Parish); GA (Broxton Rocks, Coffee County) (Pinson, Chambers, & Sessa 2017); AL (Elmore County); West Indies; Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Other Comments: "Louisiana plants, known only from St. Helena Parish, are identical to gametophytes grown from sporophyte plants from Central America both morphologically and in starch gel enzyme electrophoresis patterns. Gametophyte colonies and possibly sporophytes of Vittaria graminifolia should be expected in similar habitats at additional sites along the Gulf Coast and in peninsular Florida. Sporophytes of V . graminifolia differ from those of V . lineata in having trilete spores, dilated terminal cells of the soral paraphyses, stem scales with acute (not long filiform) apices, and a chromosome number of 2 n = 60. Earlier reports of sporophytes of V . graminifolia in Florida (as V . filifolia) have been shown to refer to aberrant forms of V . lineata (G. J. Gastony 1980)." (Farrar 1993a).
Synonymy ⓘ: = FNA2, K4, Meso1, Mex, NS, POWO, Pinson, Chambers, & Sessa (2017). Basionym: Vittaria graminifolia Kaulf. 1824
Links to other floras: = Vittaria graminifolia - FNA2
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Heliophily ⓘ: 2
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© Alan Cressler: Vittaria graminifolia, Clonal Gametophytes, and Juvenile Sporophytes, Alabama 4a by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Vittaria graminifolia, Sporophytes, and Clonal Gametophytes, Falling Rock, Broxton Rocks Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Coffee County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Vittaria graminifolia, Sporophytes, and Clonal Gametophytes, Falling Rock, Broxton Rocks Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Coffee County, Georgia 2 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Vittaria graminifolia, Altamaha Formation Cliffs, Broxton Rocks Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Coffee County, Georgia 2 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Vittaria graminifolia, Clonal Gametophytes, Alabama 7a by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Vittaria graminifolia, Clonal Gametophytes, and Juvenile Sporophytes, Alabama 1a by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Vittaria graminifolia, Altamaha Formation Cliffs, Broxton Rocks Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Coffee County, Georgia 2 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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Horticultural Information
No horticultural data found for this taxon.