water fern

water fern

plant
      any member of a group of ferns (fern) in the subfamily Parkerioideae, family Pteridaceae, plant division Pteridophyta. Ceratopteris consists of at least four species (C. cornuta, C. pteridoides, C. richardii, and C. thalictroides), which are widespread in tropical and warm-temperate regions around the world. Although the plants sometimes root in mud, more frequently they float on the surface of shallow water in ditches, lakes, and sluggish backwaters of riverine environments. Individual plants have dimorphic leaves (leaf). They produce a rosette of lettucelike, lobed or divided, vegetative leaves, which often have somewhat inflated petioles (an adaptation to floating). These leaves usually produce small meristematic buds along the margin that give rise to “daughter plants,” which are asexual (vegetative) offshoots that eventually grow directly into free-living plants—essentially clones of the initial plant. The fertile leaves of Ceratopteris species are much more finely divided than the vegetative ones, and the narrow leaf segments have the undersurface nearly entirely covered with sporangia (fern). The sporangia are protected in part by the recurved margins of the leaf segments. The spores are globose and trilete.

      Ceratopteris species have become quite important as an educational and research tool for studying various genetic processes. The life cycle of these ferns proceeds rapidly compared with most other plants. Mature spores germinate within three to four days and complete the gametophyte phase of the life cycle rapidly. On average, it is possible to complete the life cycle from mature sporulating plant to mature sporulating plant within about four months, whereas typical land ferns require a year or more to go through this same process. Because ferns are an ideal system in which to study the inheritance patterns of various genetic traits, numerous strains of water fern, with individual genetic mutations of various sorts, have been bred and are maintained in culture collections, and detailed instructions on creating new mutant lines have been developed. These are made available to researchers and teachers under the trade name C-Fern.

George Yatskievych
 

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • water fern — vingirinis kietpapartis statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Pterinių šeimos dekoratyvinis augalas (Ceratopteris thalictroides), paplitęs Afrikoje, Azijoje, Šiaurės ir Pietų Amerikoje ir Australijoje. atitikmenys: lot. Ceratopteris thalictroides …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • water fern — noun ferns that grow in water • Syn: ↑aquatic fern • Hypernyms: ↑fern • Hyponyms: ↑clover fern, ↑pepperwort, ↑pillwort, ↑Pilularia globulifera …   Useful english dictionary

  • Water fern — Ceratopteris (E) …   EthnoBotanical Dictionary

  • fern — fernless, adj. fernlike, adj. /ferrn/, n. any seedless, nonflowering vascular plant of the class Filicinae, of tropical to temperate regions, characterized by true roots produced from a rhizome, triangular fronds that uncoil upward and have a… …   Universalium

  • Fern — /ferrn/, n. a female given name. * * * Any of about 10,000–12,000 species (division Filicophyta) of nonflowering vascular plants that have true roots, stems, and complex leaves and reproduce by spores. Though ferns were once classified with the… …   Universalium

  • Fern — This article is about the group of pteridophyte plants. For other uses, see Fern (disambiguation). Ferns (Pteridophyta) Temporal range: Mid Devonian[1] Recent …   Wikipedia

  • water sprite — noun 1. aquatic fern of tropical America often used in aquariums • Syn: ↑floating fern, ↑Ceratopteris pteridioides • Hypernyms: ↑aquatic fern, ↑water fern • Member Holonyms: ↑Ceratopteris, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • water horn fern — vingirinis kietpapartis statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Pterinių šeimos dekoratyvinis augalas (Ceratopteris thalictroides), paplitęs Afrikoje, Azijoje, Šiaurės ir Pietų Amerikoje ir Australijoje. atitikmenys: lot. Ceratopteris thalictroides …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • water clover — noun water fern of Europe and Asia and the eastern United States distinguished by four leaflets resembling clover leaves • Syn: ↑Marsilea quadrifolia • Hypernyms: ↑clover fern, ↑pepperwort • Member Holonyms: ↑Marsilea, ↑genus Marsilea …   Useful english dictionary

  • water sprite — vingirinis kietpapartis statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Pterinių šeimos dekoratyvinis augalas (Ceratopteris thalictroides), paplitęs Afrikoje, Azijoje, Šiaurės ir Pietų Amerikoje ir Australijoje. atitikmenys: lot. Ceratopteris thalictroides …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

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