Cheilanthes lanosa is a xerophytic fern that inhabits rock cliffs and crevices. Morphological features such as cuticle and trichomes assist sporophyte survival. However, the gametophyte stage appears to lack any water-saving features. Previous studies suggest that the gametophyte may balance its water through carbohydrate production and a strong internal osmotic gradient. To investigate the basis for gametophyte survival, lipids and carbohydrates were quantified using the vanillin and anthrone assays. Results suggest that lipids and carbohydrates increase in percent of total biomass (w/w) throughout development. In addition, lipid and carbohydrate content can change with varying culture conditions. Young gametophytes, with high carbohydrate and low lipid content, are relegated to substrates with a potential for a small but continuous water source.

Leaf samples of Anemia villosa (Anemiaceae) were collected in four distinct places in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Two coastal land populations are located in Itacoatiara and Imbuhy rocky outcrops, municipality of Niterói, and two populations in the inland mountain region of the state, Pedra Dubois, municipality of Santa Maria Madalena, and in Lumiar, municipality of Nova Friburgo. Five leaves of each one of five randomly chosen individuals were collected in each site. The four populations analyzed were very similar in anatomic qualitative characteristics. ANOVA results for the quantitative variables showed significant differences between all populations. The PCA separated the populations analyzed in two groups: one formed by the coastal land and other formed by the inland mountain.

We analyzed the distributional patterns of 66 species of leptosporangiate ferns inhabiting in the Sierra Madre Oriental (SMO), Mexico, using grid-cells and endemism index values, parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) and track analysis. The strict consensus area cladogram obtained with PAE showed a polytomy and four main groups or clades, two of them including only two or three grid-cells. The largest group included grid-cells located along the SMO, mainly in the central-southern portions of the SMO; a second group was located at the southern portion of the SMO in the leeward zone of this mountain chain. The track analysis of the fern taxa allowed us to recognize five generalized tracks in the SMO and their convergence showed five nodes. With endemism index values, 11 grid-cells were identified as important areas for ferns, seven of them corresponding to the group 1 of PAE (from montane environments), and four grid-cells to the group 2 of PAE (from leeward areas of the Sierra Madre Oriental). The results obtained herein slightly agree with other published works using other kinds of organisms. The analyses used herein serve to generate useful information about the biogeographic history of this complex area, and led us to support, detect, test and propose areas, important from biogeographic viewpoint, for ferns.

With decreasing population sizes and fragmentation of the original habitats of pteridophytes in Hainan Island, the abundance of most pteridophytes has been dramatically reduced, and some species may be at the brink of extinction. To assess the natural distribution of pteridophytes on Hainan Island, we conducted three analyses: flora, niche, and habitat. Thirty-two species of endangered pteridophytes in 21 families were found in Hainan Island, accounting for 8% of the 400 pteridophytes species there. Floristic studies showed that 9% of these 32 species are tropical, 50% are tropical Asian, 20% are pan-tropical, 3% are from East Asia, 3% from the Southern Hemisphere, and 15% are endemic to Hainan Island. Niche analysis showed that 21 of the 32 species (66%) are epiphytic or semi-epiphytic, while 11 (34%) are terrestrial. About 24 species of endangered pteridophytes are distributed in protected, conservation regions and the others are distributed partly in the conservation and non-conservation regions. In species-poor families (< 6 species), most of the species are endangered.

The majority of ferns have determinate leaf ontogeny, which makes them suitable for a hierarchal system of leaf terminology to describe dissection and gross morphology. Gleicheniaceae are distinct among fern families because nearly all species have indeterminate and pseudodichotomously forking leaves. Given these two characteristics, the hierarchal system of leaf terminology is inappropriate and cumbersome to use. Therefore, Holttum (1957), Tryon and Tryon (1982), Andersen and Øllgaard (1996), and Lellinger (2002), among others, developed specialized leaf terminology to describe the morphology of Gleicheniaceae leaves. Although each system is sufficient, comparisons among the different systems are cumbersome and confusing. To reduce confusion and simplify, we propose a new leaf terminology system that: 1) is universal to all taxa in Gleicheniaceae, 2) is more useful to apply to partial-leaf herbarium specimens, and 3) clarifies the ambiguity of having multiple leaf terminology systems.