Acrostichum danaeifolium (Giant leather fern)

Acrostichum danaeifolium Langsd. & Fisch.

Giant leather fern, leather fern, inland leather fern

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Pteridophyta	Ferns
Class	Filicopsida	“Leptosporangiate” (has to do with how their spores form) ferns—includes most ferns
Order	Polypodiales	Polypod ferns
Family	Pteridaceae	Ferns that grow on rocks (mostly)
Genus	Acrostichum	Originally assigned by Linnaeus, referring to ferns whose spores-bearing sori are distributed in a uniform mass across the back of the frond, rather than organized in discrete sori, from Greek akros, “terminal,” and stichos, “a row or line,” in reference to the fertile fronds
Species	danaeifolium	Refers to the similarity of fronds to those of the fern Danaea

About plant names...

The giant leather fern is a native of the central and southern peninsula of Florida, and Puerto Rico in the United States. It is also found in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and South America; possibly also in western Africa. It prefers brackish and freshwater marshes.

Plants: Plants are comprised of a set of fronds that emerge from a central location, producing an inverted cone shape that can reach 10' (3 m) or more in height and width.

Leaves: Fronds can reach 6½-13' (2-4 m) in length. Fertile fronds are brown underneath, due to the presence of sporangia; while infertle fronds are green. Leaves are pinnately compound, with pinnae up to 24" (60 cm) long. Pinnae have rough, wavy edges. They are approximately opposite.

Online References:

Acrostichum danaeifolium at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Acrostichum danaeifolium on www.fernsoftheworld.com

Acrostichum danaeifolium on wildsouthflorida.com

Acrostichum danaeifolium on www.levypreserve.org

Acrostichum danaeifolium at the University of Florida IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants

Acrostichum danaeifolium at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

4/11/2015 · Big Cypress Bend, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Florida
≈ 11 × 7" (28 × 18 cm)

Acrostichum excelsum Maxon

Acrostichum danaeifolium description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 16 Sep 2020.

4/12/2015 · Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida
≈ 31 × 21" (79 × 53 cm)

4/11/2015 · Big Cypress Bend, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Florida
≈ 14 × 10" (35 × 25 cm) ID is uncertain

4/12/2015 · Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida
≈ 22 × 16" (56 × 39 cm)

Range: Zones 9-11:

About this map...