abot95-05Actions

abot95-05
Title
<em>Marattia howeana</em> (W.R.B.Oliv.) P.S.Green, a rare endemic to Lord Howe
Author
Andrew G. Murdock University of California, Berkeley Department of Integrative Biology Berkeley CA USA
Keywords
rare endemic, Marattia howeana, marattioid fern
Description
rare endemic, Marattia howeana, marattioid fern

Marattia howeana (W.R.B.Oliv.) P.S.Green, a rare endemic to Lord Howe Island with only a few known remaining populations. Several marattioid fern species, including M. howeana and the Hawaiian endemic M. douglasii (C. Presl) Baker, are seriously threatened by introduced feral pigs who favor the sweet fleshy rhizome as a food source. The fully fused synangia (fused sporangia, ca. 3–5 mm in length), characteristic of Marattia s.l., are captured in this photo just at the stage of dehiscence. This photo was taken from live material grown at Humboldt State University, Arcata, California, where new methods for efficient asexual propagation of marattioid ferns are currently under development.

For further details, see Murdock: Phylogeny of marattioid ferns (Marattiaceae): inferring a root in the absence of a closely related outgroup, American Journal of Botany, Volume 95, Issue 5, pages 626-641, http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/short/95/5/626 [1].

Publisher
Botanical Society of America
Additional data
copyright: Murdock, BSA
license: http://images.botany.org/index.html#license
Collection
Systematics and Phytogeography
Botanical Name
Marattia howeana, M. douglasii
Common Name
marattioid fern species
Location Area
Lord Howe Island
Location State
New South Wales
Location Country
Australia
Categories
  • Image
  • AJB Cover Image

Creation and update

Links
  1. http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/short/95/5/626