Plant Index

 
 
 
 

Pteridium latiusculum

Pteridium latiusculum (Desv.) Hieron.

eastern bracken

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PTLA
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pteridium latiusculum
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2016-03-04

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: PTERI
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Pteridium
GENUS AUTHORITY: Gleditsch ex Scop.
GENUS COMMON: Brackenfern
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of 2-11 species, cosmopolitan in distribution. Bracken taxonomy remains provisional; the molecular work of Der et al. (2009) and Zhou et al. (2014) outlines a probable taxonomic structure for the genus, though rank decisions will remain controversial. Pteridium is a notorious and nearly worldwide weed (though less consequential in our area than in many parts of the world), nearly impossible to eradicate because of its deeply subterranean rhizomes. Bracken fiddleheads are sometimes eaten, but they are poisonous and highly carcinogenic. Bracken is not favored by grazing animals, and increases its abundance under grazing pressure. In overgrazed pastures, however, cattle will graze on bracken, the carcinogenic compound (shikimic acid) then transmittable to humans through milk.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Zhou et al. (2014)=X; Thomson, Mickel, & Mehltreter (2008)=Z; Speer & Hilu (1999)=Y; Thomson (2000, 2004); Liao, Ding, Wu, & Prado in FoC (2013); Der et al. (2009); Jacobs & Peck in FNA (1993b); Tryon (1941).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: DENNST
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Dennstaedtiaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Lotsy 1909
FAMILY COMMON: Bracken Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 16 genera and 370 species, of cosmopolitan distribution; the circumscription is very uncertain and controversial, however.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Lellinger (1985); Cranfill in FNA (1993b); Kramer in Kramer & Green (1990).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

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USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PTLA
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WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pteridium latiusculum var. latiusculum
COMMON NAME: Eastern Bracken
SYNONYMY: [= Pteridium aquilinum (Linnaeus) Kuhn ssp. latiusculum (Desvaux) Hultén - X, Va, Z; < Pteridium aquilinum (Linnaeus) Kuhn var. latiusculum (Desvaux) Underwood ex Heller - Ar, C, F, FNA, FoC, G, Il, K, RAB, W, WH3, WV, Y; = Pteris latiuscula Desvaux var. latiuscula - S; < P. aquilinum - Tn; = Pteridium latiusculum (Desvaux) Hieronymus]
PHENOLOGY: Jul-Sep.
HABITAT: Mainly in dry woodlands, forests, and heath balds, up to 1600 m in elevation.
COMMENTS: As treated here, P. latiusculum is New World and e. Asian, consisting of 5 subspecies or varieties, and separate from European P. aquilinum. NL (Newfoundland) west to MB, south to Panhandle FL, TX, and n. Mexico. The circumscription of var. latiusculum follows Thomson, Mickel, & Mehltreter (2008) in excluding Old World material included by many earlier authors. The relationship of the ‘latiusculum’ and ‘pseudocaudatum’ entities is discussed in detail by Speer & Hilu (1999) and Speer, Werth, & Hilu (1999).
RANGE MAP: Pteridium latiusculum var. latiusculum.png

Key to Map Symbols
ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Dennstaedtiaceae Lotsy 1909 (Bracken Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 16 genera and 370 species, of cosmopolitan distribution; the circumscription is very uncertain and controversial, however.
REFERENCE: Lellinger (1985); Cranfill in FNA (1993b); Kramer in Kramer & Green (1990).
ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Pteridium Gleditsch ex Scop. (Brackenfern)
SUMMARY: A genus of 2-11 species, cosmopolitan in distribution. Bracken taxonomy remains provisional; the molecular work of Der et al. (2009) and Zhou et al. (2014) outlines a probable taxonomic structure for the genus, though rank decisions will remain controversial. Pteridium is a notorious and nearly worldwide weed (though less consequential in our area than in many parts of the world), nearly impossible to eradicate because of its deeply subterranean rhizomes. Bracken fiddleheads are sometimes eaten, but they are poisonous and highly carcinogenic. Bracken is not favored by grazing animals, and increases its abundance under grazing pressure. In overgrazed pastures, however, cattle will graze on bracken, the carcinogenic compound (shikimic acid) then transmittable to humans through milk.
REFERENCE: Zhou et al. (2014)=X; Thomson, Mickel, & Mehltreter (2008)=Z; Speer & Hilu (1999)=Y; Thomson (2000, 2004); Liao, Ding, Wu, & Prado in FoC (2013); Der et al. (2009); Jacobs & Peck in FNA (1993b); Tryon (1941).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Pteridium latiusculum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Pteridium latiusculum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Pteridium latiusculum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Pteridium latiusculum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Pteridium latiusculum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Pteridium latiusculum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 0 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 0 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 0 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)

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