ADIANTOPSIS

CLASSIFICATION
KINGDOM: plantae
CLASS :polypodiopsida
ORDER : polypodiales
FAMILY :pteridaceae
SUB – FAMILY :cheilanthoideae
GENUS: adiantopsis
GENERAL CHARACTERS :
It is a genus of ferns in the Cheilanthoideae subfamily of
the Pteridaceae .It has long been regarded as the only species
with palmately compound laminae in the fern. They are seedless,
flowerless plants that depend on the production of spores to
propagate. They undergo photosynthesis, so they are autotrophs,
meaning they make their own food. they are vascular plants with
structures for transporting water from roots, through stems, and
into leaves. Unlike mosses, ferns and their closely related species
are homosporous, having only one type of spore

DESCRIPTION

They have compact and rhizome which scales 2-3 mm long, 0.3 mm
wide and is bicolorous with a narrow, thickened black central streak
and light brown margin. Fronds which are 45 cm tall, clumped and
stipe ½-¾ , atropurpureous to black in colour , lustrous, glabrous,
terete (to shallowly grooved distally); blade which is digitate, all
pinnate, radiating from the tip of stipe; pinna rachis grooved with
narrow brown wings, segments dimidiate, auricled; upper surface
glabrous; lower surface with sparse, minute (less than 0.1 mm long)
clavate white hairs; veins obscure; sori marginal, short, several (6-10)
on both long edges of segment and 1-3 on narrow inner edge;
indusium pale, thin, 0.3-0.5 mm wide, 0.5-0.8 mm long; spores
orange-tan
NUMBER OF SPECIES:
It contains about 40 species.
Some of which are:
 Adiantopsis alata
 Adiantopsis asplenioides
 Adiantopsis aurea
 Adiantopsis chlorophyll
 Adiantopsis crinoidea
 Adiantopsis dactylifera
 Adiantopsis dichotoma
 Adiantopsis flexuosa
 Adiantopsis hickeyi
 Adiantopsis lindigi
 Adiantopsis monticola
 Adiantopsis radiata
 Adiantopsis scalariformis
 Adiantopsis sena
 Adiantopsis ternata
 Adiantopsis timida
 Adiantopsis trifurcata
 -
DISTRIBUTION
It is distributed in the following region :

In wooded rocky slopes of Mexico North

America, Brazil ,South AmericaI, Bolivia South
America, Venezuela South America,Colombia South America,
Trinidad and Tobago South America, West
Indies, Panama Central America, Guatemala Central America.

LIFE CYCLE
It is assumed that the life cycle of pteridophytes is a continuous
reproductive process that is dominated by the sporophyte (sexual) stage of
the alternation of generations.

Fern spores are catapulted into the air, and the spores develop into heart-
shaped haploid gametophytes that contain both male and female sex
organs. As the young gametophyte matures, the sex organs become
active.

In ferns, the male reproductive organ is the antheridium, which produces

and releases sperm. The female reproductive organ is the archegonium, at
the base of which lies the egg.

Fern reproduction requires water for the sperm to swim to the

archegonium and fertilize the egg. The presence of water is essential
for maintaining genetically healthy sporophytes. Sperm, released in
large numbers from many gametophytes, swim through the same
waters that contain the archegonium. Thus, sperm cells from the
same gametophyte do not necessarily fertilize that gametophyte's
egg. Without this opportunity for cross-fertilization, inbreeding might
lead to a rise of harmful recessive alleles. A fertilized egg, or zygote,
grows through the process of mitosis (cell division), producing roots,
stems, and a new sporophyte. Embryonic sporophytes are initially
tightly curled structures called fiddleheads that unfurl as they grow
into fronds (leaf-like structures). The mature frond is the sporophyte,
which contains multiple clusters of sporangia, sacs that hold asexual
spores. Spores form by meiosis and are released into the air, and the
life cycle continues.
A fertilized egg, or zygote, grows through the process of mitosis (cell
division), producing roots, stems, and a new sporophyte. Embryonic
sporophytes are initially tightly curled structures called fiddleheads
that unfurl as they grow into fronds (leaf-like structures). The mature
frond is the sporophyte, which contains multiple clusters of sporangia,
sacs that hold asexual spores. Spores form by meiosis and are
released into the air,
and the life cycle
continues.
IMPORTANCE
Cheilanthoid ferns (Pteridaceae) are a diverse and ecologically important
clade, unusual among ferns for their ability to colonize and diversify within
xeric habitats. These extreme habitats are thought to drive the extensive
evolutionary convergence, and thus morphological homoplasy, that has
long thwarted a natural classification of cheilanthoid ferns

 It is used in the horticulture

 Ruhmora adiantiformis is called the florist’s fern; since
their leaf resists wilting they are used in the cut flower
arrangements
 It is used in handicrafts
 It is used for making basketry and bracelets.
 It is used for making the green dye
 The spores are also used as flash powder in
photography and also as finger print powder in forensic
investigation.
  It is also eaten as food.

ENDANGERMENT
Despite the large number of indigenous species a considerable percentage of them are
rare and threatened. With increasing utilization of land and natural resources, it is feared
that many of these threatened taxa will become yet rarer, more vulnerable and
endangered, and in several cases may finally become extinct, as any disturbance or
imbalance in their narrowly confined ecosystems isliable to lead to their extermination.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN), or International Union for the Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources, has played a major rôle in focussing international concern
on the loss or extinction of species.

Some of them are as follows:

 Adiantopsis radiata
 Adiantopsis scalariformis
 Adiantopsis sena
 Adiantopsis ternata
Adiantopsis timida
WATERMARK