Species of fern
Pteris vittata, the Chinese brake,[4] Chinese ladder brake,[4] or simply ladder brake,[4] is a fern species in the Pteridoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae.[5] It is indigenous to Asia, southern Europe, tropical Africa, and Australia.[4] The type specimen was collected in China by Pehr Osbeck.[2]
Habitat and distribution
Pteris vittata is native and widespread in the paleotropics: found from the east, to the south tropical, and southern Africa (in Angola; Kenya; Lesotho; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Tanzania (including the Zanzibar Archipelago); Cape Province, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Transvaal in South Africa; Eswatini; Uganda; Zambia; and Zimbabwe); temperate and tropical Asia (in the provinces of Anhui, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xizang, and Yunnan in China; the prefectures of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan; and Thailand); and Australia, in the states of New South Wales,[6] Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia.[4]
Pteris vittata is often associated with limestone habitats. It may be seen growing on concrete structures and cracks, in buildings in the central business district and suburbs of Sydney.[6][7] It is an introduced species in California, Texas, and the Southeastern United States.[8]
A remnant population exists in the Italian peninsula, in Sicily, Calabria and Campania.[9]
Uses
Although it grows readily in the wild, Pteris vittata is sometimes cultivated.[4] It is grown in gardens for its attractive appearance,[4] or used in pollution control schemes:[4] it is known to be a hyperaccumulator plant of arsenic used in phytoremediation.[10]
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Pteris vittata from Antalya city in Turkey
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Pinnae undersides of P. vittata from Antalya
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Sori of P. vittata from Antalya
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Pinna basal shape (underside) of P. vittata from Antalya
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Pinna basal shape (upperside) of P. vittata from Antalya
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Young P. vittata from Antalya
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Unfurling frond tip of P. vittata from Antalya
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Unfurling fronds of P. vittata from Antalya