Ophioglossum
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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
Ophioglossaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Perennial or evanescent herbs, terrestrial or epiphytic. Rhizome short, usually erect, terminating in the erect exposed bud of the following season. Fronds erect or pendent, glabrous, somewhat fleshy, consisting of a common stalk (stipe), and separate sterile and fertile portions. Sterile blade simple or palmately lobed, sessile or short-stalked, with reticulate venation, the primary areoles enclosing free veinlets and also sometimes secondary areoles. Sporophylls one or several simple, stalked spikes. Sporangia subglobose, coalescent in two marginal rows; spores globose, trilete, yellowish, thick-walled, the surface densely reticulate with fused minute cones and pits. Chromosomes: n = 120, 240, ca. 360, 436, 451, 480, 564, 566, 631. The last number, reported for O. reticulatum, is the highest known for any living organism.
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Discussion
Type Species. Ophioglossum vulgatum L., of north temperate regions.
A genus of more than 30 species scattered almost throughout the world (except Arctic and Antarctic regions); two have been found in Puerto Rico. The generic name is of Greek origin and means "snake-tongue."