Dennstaedtiaceae

▪ fern family

 the bracken fern family, containing 11 genera and 170 species, in the division Pteridophyta (the lower vascular plants (plant)). Dennstaedtiaceae is distributed nearly worldwide; although the family is most diverse in tropical regions, it is well represented in temperate floras. Most species are terrestrial, but some genera contain species that climb on surrounding vegetation. Leaf morphology is quite variable, though the leaves tend to be highly divided in most genera. The sori (fern) are also variable in shape, but most commonly are either linear and more or less continuous along the leaf margin or scattered and circular to horseshoe-shaped along the portions of the margins. Often they are protected by the recurved leaf margin or a membranous flap of tissue (indusium (fern)). In some species the sori appear enclosed in small indusial pouches. The family contains species with either bean-shaped (bilateral) or globose (tetrahedral) spores.

      The most economically important genus of Dennstaedtiaceae is Pteridium ( bracken), which is considered one of the world's worst weeds. Bracken is an invader of open or disturbed areas with an extensive branched rhizome, which may grow to about 400 metres (1,300 feet) in length. Because the plant competes so vigorously with other vegetation and the leaves contain toxic chemicals, a site where this fern becomes established is soon unfit for grazing by livestock, and many less-common species of plants often become shaded out.

George Yatskievych

 

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