Dennstaedtia

• Authority

  Mickel, John T. & Beitel, Joseph M. 1988. Pteridophyte Flora of Oaxaca, Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 46: 1-580.

• Family

  Dennstaedtiaceae

• Scientific Name

  Dennstaedtia

• Description

  Genus Description - Terrestrial; rhizome creeping, usually stout, pubescent; fronds large; blade bipinnate to quadri-pinnate-pinnatifid, chartaceous to firm-herbaceous, glabrous to pubescent; veins free, extending not quite to the margin, tips often clavate; sori marginal, without paraphyses, inner and outer indusia forming a cup- or purse-shaped sorus, neither indusium being greatly modified; spores tetrahedral.

• Discussion

  Type: Dennstaedtia flaccida (Forster) Bernhardi [=Trichomanes flaccidum Forster]. Dennstaedtia is most diversified in the Old World (eastern Asia and the South Pacific), but with 11 species in America. In Oaxaca it most closely resembles Saccoloma, from which it is distinct in the hairy rhizome and the sori at the very margin. Reference: Tryon, R. M. 1960. A review of the genus Dennstaedtia in America. Contr. Gray Herb. 187: 2352.