Cystodium sorbifolium explained

Cystodium is a fern in its own family, Cystodiaceae.^[1] It contains a single species: Cystodium sorbifolium . Because it looks like a small tree fern, it had previously been placed in the tree fern family Dicksoniaceae. Subsequent analysis had moved it to the Lindsaeaceae,^[2] but the most recent phylogenetic studies have placed it in its own separate family, Cystodiaceae, with a sister relationship to the current Lindsaeaceae.^[3] A fossil species of the genus Cystodium sorbifolioides is known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber in Myanmar.^[4]

Distribution

Cystodium is distributed through lowland rainforests from Borneo to New Guinea and nearby islands, as well as the Solomon Islands.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Christenhusz, Maarten . Xian-Chun Zhang . Harald Schneider . amp . 2011 . A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns . Phytotaxa . 19 . 18 Feb. 2011 . 7–54 . 10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.2 .
2. Korall. Petra. Conant. David S.. Schneider. Harald. Ueda. Kunihiko. Nishida. Harufumi. Pryer. Kathleen M.. 2006. On the Phylogenetic Position of Cystodium: It's Not a Tree Fern – It's a Polypod!. American Fern Journal. 96. 2. 45–53. 10.1640/0002-8444(2006)96[45:OTPPOC]2.0.CO;2. 2012-02-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20080820183641/http://www.pryerlab.net/publication/fichier736.pdf. 2008-08-20. dead.
3. Lehtonen. Samuli. Tuomisto. Hanna. Rouhan. Germinal. Christenhusz. Maarten J. M. . 2010 . Phylogenetics and classification of the pantropical fern family Lindsaeaceae . Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . 163 . 3 . 305–359 . 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2010.01063.x. free.
4. Regalado. Ledis. Schmidt. Alexander R.. Appelhans. Marc S.. Ilsemann. Bork. Schneider. Harald. Krings. Michael. Heinrichs. Jochen. December 2017. A fossil species of the enigmatic early polypod fern genus Cystodium (Cystodiaceae) in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar. Scientific Reports. en. 7. 1. 14615. 10.1038/s41598-017-14985-7. 2045-2322. 5668433. 29097728.