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Diplopterygium glaucum

(Thunb. ex Houtt.)

Urajiro

Gleicheniaceae

Diplopterygium glaucum is a large fern in the family Gleicheniaceae. It is widely distributed throughout eastern Asia and is also found within French Polynesia.

Description

Diplopterygium glaucum is a rather large fern that spreads via rhizomes. Fronds are bipinnate; there are two halves of the leaves that are about 60 to 90 cm long and 18 to 28 cm wide, with acuminate tips. Those halves are pinnately compound, divided into many (25 to 35 on each side) linear to lanceolate pinnae (leaflets) that are about 11 to 16 cm long and 1.2 to 2.4 mm wide. The pinnae are themselves alternately lobed; there are 20 to 35 lobes on each side, perpendicular to the pinna rachis, and lanceolate with a rounded tip. The surface of the blade is green above but glaucous below, with two rows of sori along the lower side of the lobes (Wu et al. 2013).

Uses

​Note: Please see the disclaimer regarding any information about medical or edible uses.

Diplopterygium glaucum is reportedly used in medicine and as an ornamental plant, but is generally a common weed (Xu and Deng 2017). In India, the fertile fronds used as an antibacterial (Singh 2003).

Distribution

Diplopterygium glaucum grows in forests, mountainsides, and thickets at an altitude of 300 to 2300 m (Wu et al. 2013). It is native to southern China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan including the Ryukyu Islands, and Tahiti and Huahine of the Society Islands in French Polynesia (Hassler 2022).

Status

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References

Hassler, M. 2022. World Ferns. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. Version 13.2; last update 2022 July 2. [accessed 2022 Jul 12]. <a>www.worldplants.de/ferns/</a><br><br>Singh, H. B. 2003. Economically viable pteridophytes of India. In: Chandra, S., Srivastava, M., eds. <i>Pteridology in the New Millennium</i>. Springer: Dordrecht. 421–446.<br><br>Wu, Z. Y., Raven, P. H., and Hong, D. Y., eds. 2013. <i>Flora of China. Vol. 2-3 (Lycopodiaceae through Polypodiaceae)</i>. Beijing: Science Press, and St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.<br><br>Xu, Z., and Deng, M. 2017. <i>Identification and Control of Common Weeds, Volume 2</i>. Berlin: Springer.

Description
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