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Blechnum niponicum
(Kunze) Makino
Japanese Deer Fern
Blechnaceae
Blechnum niponicum is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae. It is native to Japan, Russia, and Taiwan, and is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental. Blechnum niponicum was once considered to be a subspecies of Blechnum spicant (Cherepanov 2017).
Description
Blechnum niponicum has short, densely scaly rhizomes and smooth, evergreen fronds. Sterile fronds are oblong-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 20 to 30 cm long and 5 to 8 cm wide, on a stipe that is 1 to 5 cm long, scaly, grooved on the top side, with narrow dark brown papery scales. Blades have many small pinnate lobes closely arranged together like a comb, and are abruptly pointed at the tip into a 1 to 2 cm long tail. Lobes are horizontally spreading, broadly linear, 3 to 7 mm wide, bluntly tipped, with smooth margins. Lower lobes are often bent slightly downwards, and the lowermost lobes are 3 to 10 mm long and ear-shaped. Fertile fronds are not much taller than the sterile fronds, and bear the sori on the lobes. Fertile lobes are 1.5 to 3 cm long, near the base of the leaf, while the lowermost lobes on the fertile fronds are very small (Ohwi et al. 1965).
Blechnum niponicum is very similar to Blechnum amabile and Blechnum hancockii and forms a species complex with them. Some taxonomists split them as the genus Spicantopsis, distinguishable from its relatives by the pale or straw-colored petiole and the lack of glandular hairs on the leaf surface (Molino et al. 2019). Reportedly, Blechnum hancockii can be told apart from this species by having fertile fronds that are shorter, about the same length as the sterile fronds (Ebihara et al. 2014).
Blechnum niponicum is very similar to Blechnum amabile and Blechnum hancockii and forms a species complex with them. Some taxonomists split them as the genus Spicantopsis, distinguishable from its relatives by the pale or straw-colored petiole and the lack of glandular hairs on the leaf surface (Molino et al. 2019). Reportedly, Blechnum hancockii can be told apart from this species by having fertile fronds that are shorter, about the same length as the sterile fronds (Ebihara et al. 2014).
Uses
Note: Please see the disclaimer regarding any information about medical or edible uses.
Blechnum niponicum may have some use for phytoremediation, the use of plants to absorb contaminants from the environment. Blechnum niponicum has been found growing in mines, where it accumulates lead at concentrations of thousands of mg per kg (Kodera et al. 2008). It is also sometimes grown as an ornamental.
Distribution
Blechnum niponicum is native to the Russian Far East, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, and Taiwan (Hassler and Schmitt 2019).
Status
References
Cherepanov, S. K. 2017. Vascular Plants of Russia and Adjacent States (the Former USSR). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ebihara, A., Nakato, N., Matsumoto, S., Chao, Y.-S., and Kuo, L.-Y. 2014. Cytotaxonomic Studies on Thirteen Ferns of Taiwan. Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Series B, Botany. 40: 19-28.
Hassler, M., and Schmitt, B. 2019. Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. [accessed 2019 Jun 7]. https://worldplants.webarchiv.kit.edu/ferns/
Kodera, H., Nishioka, H., Muramatsu, Y., and Terada, Y. 2008. Distribution of lead in lead-accumulating pteridophyte Blechnum niponicum, measured by Synchrotron Radiation Micro X-ray Fluorescence. Analytical Sciences, 24(12): 1545–1549.
Molino, S., Gabriel y Galán, J. M., Sessa, E. B., and Wasowicz, P. 2019. A multi-character analysis of Struthiopteris leads to the rescue of Spicantopsis (Blechnaceae, Polypodiopsida). Taxon, 68(2): 185–198.
Ohwi, J,, Meyer, F. G., Walker E, H. 1965. Flora of Japan. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
Ebihara, A., Nakato, N., Matsumoto, S., Chao, Y.-S., and Kuo, L.-Y. 2014. Cytotaxonomic Studies on Thirteen Ferns of Taiwan. Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Series B, Botany. 40: 19-28.
Hassler, M., and Schmitt, B. 2019. Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. [accessed 2019 Jun 7]. https://worldplants.webarchiv.kit.edu/ferns/
Kodera, H., Nishioka, H., Muramatsu, Y., and Terada, Y. 2008. Distribution of lead in lead-accumulating pteridophyte Blechnum niponicum, measured by Synchrotron Radiation Micro X-ray Fluorescence. Analytical Sciences, 24(12): 1545–1549.
Molino, S., Gabriel y Galán, J. M., Sessa, E. B., and Wasowicz, P. 2019. A multi-character analysis of Struthiopteris leads to the rescue of Spicantopsis (Blechnaceae, Polypodiopsida). Taxon, 68(2): 185–198.
Ohwi, J,, Meyer, F. G., Walker E, H. 1965. Flora of Japan. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
Description
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