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Polypodium

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Polypodium

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Also known as polypody

Polypodium is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is widely distributed throughout the world, with the highest species diversity in the tropics. The name is derived from Ancient Greek poly ("many") + podion ("little foot"), on account of the foot-like appearance of the rhizome and its branches. They are commonly called polypodies or rockcap ferns, but for many species unique vernacular names exist.

OverviewAI-generated

Polypodium is a taxon at the genus rank. It is classified within the family Polypodiaceae and the subfamily Polypodioideae. The genus has been described in the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. Common names for the organism include polypody, Engelsød, Tüpfelfarne, Polipodio, and calaguala.

The native range of Polypodium includes Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, the Aleutian Islands, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Arizona, Arkansas, Austria, and the Azores. The genus has also been introduced to New Zealand North and New Zealand South.

Records of Polypodium are held by institutions including the University of Alberta Museums, BRIT, INECOL, IIB-UV, and FCF-UANL. Specimens have been documented in Guatemala, Canada, Peru, and Mexico.

Synthesized by Vinony from 32 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, Plants of the World, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

polypodies

Genus

  1. PhylumCnidaria
  2. ClassPolypodiozoa
  3. OrderPolypodiidea
  4. FamilyPolypodiidae
Habitatfreshwater
Native toAlabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, Aleutian Is., Algeria, Altay, Amur, Arizona, Arkansas, Austria, Azores

Common Name: calaguala

via · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records
6,332
With media
4,789
Family
Polypodiaceae
Collections
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA MUSEUMS, BRIT, INECOL, IIB-UV, FCF-UANL, ECOSUR
Recorded in
Guatemala, Canada, Peru, Mexico

Research

306 papers

via PubMed

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

3 sections
Contents
  • Species
  • References
  • External links

Polypodium is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Polypodioideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is widely distributed throughout the world, with the highest species diversity in the tropics. The name is derived from Ancient Greek poly ("many") + podion ("little foot"), on account of the foot-like appearance of the rhizome and its branches. They are commonly called polypodies or rockcap ferns, but for many species unique vernacular names exist.

They are terrestrial or epiphytic ferns, with a creeping, densely hairy or scaly rhizome bearing fronds at intervals along its length. The species differ in size and general appearance and in the character of the fronds, which are evergreen, persisting for 1–2 years, pinnate or pinnatifid (rarely simple entire), and from 10 to 80 cm or more long. The sori or groups of spore-cases (sporangia) are borne on the back of the frond; they are globose and naked, not covered with a membrane (indusium).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Polypodium” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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