Specimen
Habitat
MP-0015 / 0024 â Gleicheniaceae
Dicranopteris linearis (Burm.f.) Underw.
Koshida (JP)
A fern whose fronds fork again and again, covering bright, disturbed hillsides.
Distribution
Paleotropics: southern Japan, Taiwan, China, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Pacific.
Habitat
Sunny slopes, forest margins, burnt or cleared ground and eroded soils; often forming dense thickets.
Morphology
A fern with a long, creeping rhizome. The fronds have a characteristic repeatedly forked (pseudodichotomous) branching in which the leaf axis pauses, then divides into two branches, each with pairs of pinnae. Sori are small and round, without an indusium.
Botanical notes
A classic pioneer of disturbed, acidic soils. The dense thickets it forms can suppress tree seedlings but also stabilise bare slopes against erosion.
References
Taxonomy and distribution follow Plants of the World Online (Kew), YList (Yonekura & Kajita) and regional floras; CITES Species+ for trade status. Descriptions are provisional and are revised as specimens are verified.