Ceratopteris richardii Brongn.
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Authority
Proctor, George R. 1989. Ferns of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 53: 1-389.
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Family
Pteridaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Aquatic, usually floating, or if rooted partly or completely submerged. Fronds few, spreading (fully fertile ones more erect); stipes 9-33 cm long; sterile blades mostly deltate to ovate, 20-50 cm long, up to 26 cm broad near base, 1- or 2-pinnate-pinnatifid; pinnae altemate, deltate to ovate, the divisions broadly to narrowly lobed. Fertile blades deltate or broadly ovate, taller than the sterile ones, 4- to 5-pinnate toward base of larger fronds; ultimate divisions narrowly linear, acute to attenuate at apex, the margins inrolled abaxially to enclose 1-4 rows of sporangia; sporangia with annulus of 16-64 indurated cells; spores 107-150 µm in diam.
Distribution and Ecology - General Distribution. Southern United States, Greater Antilles, Trinidad, continental tropical America, Africa, and Madagascar. Distribution in Puerto Rico. Known from a few scattered localities near the south coast; recorded from Arroyo, Coamo, and Salinas. Habitat. Irrigation ditches and sluggish streams at low elevations, very rare; last collected in 1922.
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Discussion
Type. L. C. Richard, from Cayenne (French Guiana) (P, cited by Lloyd, 1974).
Syn. Ceratopteris deltoidea Benedict, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 36: 472. 1909. (Type. Britton & Hollick 2158, fi-om the Orange Bay River, Jamaica, NY.)
third species, Ceratopteris pteridoides (Hooker) Hieronymus, has a wide distribution in tropical America and has been found in Cuba and Hispaniola; it m a y also some day be found in Puerto Rico. It can be distinguished by its simpler, cordate sterile blades with opposite primary divisions, by the sporangia having a vestigial annulus (usually 0-10 indurated cells), and by its smaller spores (70-100 µm diam.). The plants are usually floating, and often produce proliferous vegetative buds on the fronds.