Open Access
Subscription Access
Phenology of a Temperate Fern Dryopteris wallichiana (Spreng.) Hyl. (Dryopteridaceae) in Uttarakhand, India
Initiation and proliferation of leaf primordia, leaf expansion and maturation of a basket fern Dryopteris wallichiana are described based on two years of observation. The phenology of these events is strictly seasonal beginning with the onset of spring in the temperate Himalayan climate. Leaf primordia initiated during late summer often remain dormant but expand in the next growing season. Maturation of most of the leaves of a growing season is completed before the start of winter, but these withstand the winter cold. Leaves of the previous growing season remain erect on the rhizome for about 20 months after which they collapse. Significance of the presence of green and dry collapsed leaves on the rhizome is discussed.
Keywords
Dormancy of Leaf Primordia, Dryopteris wallichiana, Indo-Himalaya, Phenology, Temperate Forest.
User
Font Size
Information
- Tanner, E. V. J., Leaf demography and growth of the tree fern Cyathea pubescens Mett. ex Kuhn in Jamaica. Bot. J. Linn. Soc., 1983, 87, 213–227.
- Von Aderkas, P. and Green, P. E. J., Leaf development of the ostrich fern Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 1986, 93, 307–312.
- Willmot, A., The phenology of leaf life span in woodland populations of the ferns Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott and D. dilatata (Hoffm.) A. Gray in Derbyshire. Bot. J. Linn. Soc., 1989, 99, 387– 395.
- Minoletti, M. L. and Boerner, R. E., Seasonal photosynthesis, nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics, and resorption in the wintergreen fern Polystichum acrostichoides (Michx.) Schott. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club., 1993, 120, 397–404.
- Nooden, L. D. and Wagner Jr, W. H., Photosynthetic capacity and leaf reorientation in two wintergreen ferns, Polystichum acrostichoides and Dryopteris intermedia. Am. Fern J., 1997, 87, 143– 149.
- Sharpe, J. M., Annual variation in leaf production of reproductively mature sporophytes of Dryopteris intermedia and Polystichum acrostichoides (Dryopteridaceae: Pteridophyta) two common ferns of temperate north-eastern USA. Indian Fern J., 2012, 29, 240– 253.
- Tani, T. and Kudo, G., Overwintering leaves of a forest fern, Dryopteris crassirhizoma (Dryopteridaceae): a small contribution to the resource storage and photosynthetic carbon gain, Ann. Bot., 2005, 95, 263–270.
- Cousens, M. I., Blechnum spicant: habitat and vigor of optimal, marginal and disjunct populations, and field observations of gametophytes. Bot. Gaz., 1981, 142, 251–258.
- Punetha, N., Leaf growth and productivity in two western Himalayan thelypteroid ferns. Indian Fern. J., 1989, 6, 68–72.
- Bartsch, I. and Lawrence, J., Leaf size and biomass allocation in Thelypteris dentata, Woodwardia virginica and Osmunda regalis in central Florida. Am. Fern J., 1997, 87, 71–76.
- Greer, G. K. and McCarthy, B. C., Patterns of growth and reproduction in a natural population of the fern Polystichum acrostichoides. Am. Fern J., 2000, 90, 60–76.
- Tessier, J. T., Leaf habit, phenology and longevity of 11 forest understory plant species in Algonquin state forest, northwest Connecticut, USA. Botany, 2008, 86, 457–465.
- Sato, T., Estimation of chronological age for sporophyte maturation in three semi-evergreen ferns in Hokkaido. Ecol. Res., 1990, 5, 55–62.
- Khullar, S. P., An Illustrated Fern Flora of the West Himalaya vol II. International Book Distributors, Dehra Dun, 2000, pp. 342–344.
- Fraser-Jenkins, C. R., A monograph of Dryopteris (Pteridophyta: Dryopteridaceae) in the Indian subcontinent. Bull. Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bot., 1989. 18(5), 354–359.
- Fraser-Jenkins, C. R., New Species Syndrome in Indian Pteridology and the Ferns of Nepal, International Book Distributors, Dehra Dun, 1997, pp. 124–138.
- Punetha, N. and Pant, J. N., Leaf demographic studies on central Himalayan Cyathea spinulosa Wall. ex Hook. In Advances in Pteridology (ed. Trivedi, P. C.), Pointer Publishers, Jaipur, 2002, pp. 104–109.
- Chabbot, B. F. and Hicks, D. J., The ecology of leaf life spans. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 1982, 13, 229–259.
- Goldblum, D. and Kwit, M. C., The relative photosynthetic contribution of old and new fronds of the wintergreen fern Dryopteris carthusiana, Ontario, Canada. J. Torrey Bot. Soc., 2010, 139, 270–282.
- Briggs, W. R. and Steeves, T. A., Morphogenetic studies on Osmunda cinnamomea L. The expansion and maturation of vegetative fronds. Phytomorphology, 1958, 8, 234–238.
- Punetha, N., Phenology of the climbing leaf of Lygodium japonicum (Thunb.) Sw. (Schizeaceae). Phytomorphology, 2000, 50, 75–85.
- Bower, F. O., On the comparative morphology of the leaf in the vascular cryptogams and gymnosperms. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, 1884, 175, 565–615.
- Foster, A. F., Leaf differentiation in Angiosperms. Bot. Rev., 1936, 2, 349–372.
- Sharpe, J. M. and Mehltreter, K., Ecological insights from fern population dynamics. In Fern Ecology (eds Mehltreter, K., Walker, L. R. and Sharpe, J. M.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York, 2010, pp. 61–110.
- Bannister, P., The seasonal course of forest resistance in some New Zealand Pteridophytes. New Zealand J. Bot., 1984, 22, 557– 563.
- Farrar, D. R., Spore retention and release from overwintering fern fronds. Am. Fern J., 1976, 66, 49–52.
- Punetha, N., Bhakuni, K. and Pant, A. K., Marcescent habit in Himalayan ferns (Abstract). In International Symposium on Perspectives in Pteridophytes, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, India, 2008, pp. 88–89.
- Russell, A. N. and Vitousek, P. M., Decomposition and potential nitrogen fixation in Dicranopteris linearis litter on Mauna Loa, Hawai’i. J. Trop. Ecol., 1997, 13, 579–594.
Abstract Views: 212
PDF Views: 78