Pteridium

Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens from wild populations. Cultivated occurrences are not mapped. View county names by placing the cursor over the map.

Contains 3 accepted taxa overall.

Family:	DENNSTAEDTIACEAE
Genus:	Pteridium Gled. ex Scop.
Common Name:	BRACKEN FERN
Genus Notes:	Though sometimes eaten, bracken fern contains ptaquiloside, a carcinogenic terpene glycoside (Hirono et al. 1984) that can damage DNA (Tourchi-Roudsari 2014) and increase the risk of gastrointestinal tract cancers (Nagaraja & Eslick 2015). Ptaquiloside can be present in animal milk (Virgilio et al. 2015).
Specimen:	View USF Herbarium specimens of this genus

Classification

Division
Class
Sub Class
Order	POLYPODIALES
Family	DENNSTAEDTIACEAE
Genus	*Pteridium*

Citation

Citation	PTERIDIUM Gleditsch ex Scopoli, Fl. Carniol. 169. 1760, nom. cons.
Basionym:	**
Type:	TYPE: Pteridium aquilinum (Linnaeus) Kuhn (Pteris aquilina Linnaeus)

** Not applicable or data not available.

Species

Scientific Name	Common Name	Herbarium Specimens	Photos
Pteridium aquilinum var. caudatum	LACY BRACKEN
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum	EASTERN BRACKEN
Pteridium aquilinum var. pseudocaudatum	TAILED BRACKEN

Identification Key

Genus Synonyms

Synonym	Full Citation	Basionym	Type
Cincinalis	Cincinalis Gleditsch, Syst. Pl. 290. 1764.		TYPE: = Pteridium Gleditsch ex Scopoli 1760.
Eupteris	Eupteris Newman, Phytologist 2: 278. 1845.		TYPE: Eupteris aquilina (Linnaeus) Newman (Pteris aquilina Linnaeus) = Pteridium Gleditsch ex Scopoli 1760.
Filix	Filix Ludwig, Inst. Regn. Veg., ed. 2. 142. 1757, non Seguier 1754.		TYPE: Filix aquilina (Linnaeus) Woynar (Pteris aquilina Linnaeus) = Pteridium Gleditsch ex Scopoli 1760.
Filix-foemina	Filix-foemina Hill ex Farwell, Amer. Midl. Naturalist 12: 290. 1931.		TYPE: Filix-foemina aquilina (Linnaeus) Farwell (Pteris aquilina Linnaeus) = Pteridium Gleditsch ex Scopoli 1760.
Ornithopteris	Ornithopteris (J. Agardh) J. Smith, Hist. Filicum 297. 1875, non Bernhardi 1805.	BASIONYM: Pteris Linnaeus, sect. Ornithopteris J. Agardh, Recens. Sp. Gen. Pteridis 45. 1839.	TYPE: Ornithopteris aquilina (Linnaeus) J. Smith (Pteris aquilina Linnaeus) = Pteridium Gleditsch ex Scopoli 1760.

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Citation Information:

Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2024. Atlas of Florida Plants (http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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Definition: Vouchered Specimen

A voucher specimen is a pressed and thoroughly dried plant sample deposited in a herbarium, and is intended to be a permanent record supporting research purposes. A voucher may be a record of a plant's occurrence in a particular area, or a specific example of a plant used in a scientific investigation.

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