Marattia purpurascens

Taxobox
name = "Maratta purparescens"
status = NT
status_system = IUCN3.1


image_caption = Mule's-foot fern ("Angiopteris evecta")
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Pteridophyta
classis = Marattiopsida
ordo = Marattiales
familia = Marattiaceae
genus = "Marattia"
species = "M. purpurascens"
binomial = "Marattia purpurascens"

"Marattia purpurascens" is a large fern belonging to Class Marattiaceae. It has a globular rhizome with stipule-like fleshy outgrowths. The leaves are dark green, twice pinnate and up to 1 metre long. Every pinnule has up to six pairs of leaflets. The petioles are dark-purplish, hence the name 'purpurascens' meaning 'becoming purple'. The sporangia are fused in all "Marattia" into a bivalvate synangium.

Conservation plans have been proposed for "Marattia purpurascens", an endemic of the distant Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, where a single population remains on Green Mountain. This population is now believed to be more stable than previously feared, but long-term threats to its survival do exist, in the form of competition with alien invasive species like introduced plants such as "Lantana camara" L. and grazing by sheep.

ee also

*"Marattia salicina", a related plant from New Zealand.
*"Danaea kalevala", a related plant from the Caribbean.

References

*Gray, A., Palembe, T., Stroud, S. 2005. The conservation of the endemic vascular flora of Ascension Island and threats from alien species. Oryx 39: 449-453. [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=8DBCCE5379982AED17988233915577B1.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=360019]
*See the ARKive site for additional information [http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/plants_and_algae/Marattia_purpurascens/]