Pteris multifida Poir., Pteridaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Reject, score: 9 (Go to the risk assessment).

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Chinese brake, Huguenot fern, saw-leaved bracken, spider brake, spider fern

Habit:  fern

Description:  "Stems slender, short-creeping, densely scaly; scales dark reddish brown to chestnut brown. Leaves clustered, 1-6 dm. Petiole pale or brownish, 5-30 cm, scaly proximally, otherwise glabrous. Blade oblong to oblanceolate, irregularly and pedately divided proximally (as in Pteris cretica ) and pinnately divided distally, 10-35 x 13-25 cm; rachis slightly and evenly winged, wing constricted above each pinna pair. Pinnae 3-7 pairs, widely spaced, distal pinnae simple, adnate and decurrent to rachis; pinnae remaining green through winter, not articulate to rachis, lanceolate to linear; sterile pinnae wider than fertile pinnae (to ca. 1.2 cm), margins irregularly serrate to serrulate; fertile pinnae mostly less than 5 mm, margins entire to serrate at apex; adaxial costae with sparse, septate hairs; proximal pinnae with 1-4 elongate basal segments. Veins free, simple or forked. Sori narrow, blade tissue exposed abaxially"  (Flora of North America online).

Habitat/ecology:  "On old shady walls and masonry around cemeteries, dumps, and towns"  (Flora of North America online).

Propagation:  Spores

Native range:  Eastern and southeastern Asia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 16)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	native	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 73) Common
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Pteris multifida is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Pteris multifida as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Pteris multifida may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 2011. Flora of North America North of Mexico (online edition).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.