Gleichenia

These ferns have creeping rhizomes. The compound eaves fork multiple times, with the final leaf lobes ending in a pinnate arrangement. The sori are found at the bottom of the leaves and are made of a few sporangia. They are not covered by an indusium (protective covering).{{Cite book |last=Levyns |first=M.R. |title=A Guide to the Flora of the Cape Peninsula |publisher=Juta & Company, Limited |year=1966 |edition=2nd Revised |oclc=621340}} The sori occur in a unique chamber in the laminar pits - a feature found only in this genus.{{Cite journal |last1=Cantrill |first1=David J. |last2=Ohlsen |first2=Daniel |last3=McCurry |first3=Matthew R. |last4=Frese |first4=Michael |date=2023-03-01 |title=Gleichenia nagalingumiae sp. nov., a remarkably well-preserved fossil species with in situ spores from the Miocene of Australia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034666722002214 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |language=en |volume=310 |pages=104823 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104823 |bibcode=2023RPaPa.31004823C |s2cid=254620225 |issn=0034-6667|url-access=subscription }}

File:Gleichenia dicarpa kz7.jpg

The fossil record indicates that this genus had emerged by the late Jurassic period, although it was far more common in the early Cretaceous period.{{Cite journal |last1=Bose |first1=M.N. |last2=Kumaran |first2=K.P.N. |last3=Baneiji |first3=J. |date=1982 |title=Pachypteris haburensisn. sp. and other plant fossils from the Pariwar Formation |journal=Palaeobotanist |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=1–11}} There is some evidence that it may have emerged even earlier - in the upper Triassic period.{{Cite journal |last=Knowlton |first=Frank Hall |date=1913 |title=Description of a new fossil fern of the genus Gleichenia from the Upper Cretaceous of Wyoming |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/14440/1/USNMP-45_1994_1913.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the United States National Museum |volume=45 |issue=1994 |pages=555–558|doi=10.5479/si.00963801.45-1994.555 }} There are, however, multiple genera in the fossil record that show a similar leaf branching pattern to Gleichenia, which can make it difficult to determine the exact identity of a specimen that does not have adequately preserved fruiting bodies.{{Cite journal |last1=Vera |first1=Ezequiel I. |last2=Passalia |first2=Mauro G. |date=2012 |title=Korallipteris, a new genus for Mesozoic Gleichenia-like fern fronds |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016699512000411 |journal=Geobios |language=en |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=421–428 |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2011.09.002|bibcode=2012Geobi..45..421V |hdl=11336/68155 |hdl-access=free }}

Fossils have been found in across a wide geographic range including:

• The Pariwar formation in India (Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary)
• Gardeshwar in India (early Cretaceous){{Cite journal |last1=Jana |first1=Brajendra Nath |last2=King |first2=Sarah C. |last3=Hilton |first3=Jason |date=2013-09-05 |title=Revision of the Cretaceous fossil plant-assemblage from Gardeshwar (Gujarat, India): A conifer dominated floral association from an Upper Gondwana sequence on the West Coast of India |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1367912013002319 |journal=Journal of Asian Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=73 |pages=128–138 |doi=10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.04.021 |bibcode=2013JAESc..73..128J |issn=1367-9120|url-access=subscription }}
• The Silty Beds of Bedfordshire in England (early Albian age, early Cretaceous).{{Cite journal |last1=Herendeen |first1=Patrick S. |last2=Skog |first2=Judith E. |date=1998 |title=Gleichenia chaloneri-a New Fossil Fern from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of England |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/297609 |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |language=en |volume=159 |issue=5 |pages=870–879 |doi=10.1086/297609 |s2cid=84898595 |issn=1058-5893|url-access=subscription }}
• The USA (Cretaceous)
• New South Wales, Australia (Miocene epoch, Neogene period)

The following species are recognised as of February 2023:{{cite web |url=http://www.florachilena.cl/Formas%20de%20Crecimiento/helechos.htm |title=Helechos |access-date=2013-03-26 |author=|work= Enciclopedia de la Flora Chilena |publisher=}}{{cite web|last1=Hassler |first1=Michael |title=Gleichenia Smith |work=World Plants: Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora |year=2004–2023|url=https://www.worldplants.de/world-plants-complete-list/linear-sequence#1678909641 |version=15.1 |access-date=2023-03-08 }}

Phylogeny of Gleichenia{{cite journal |last1=Nitta |first1=Joel H. |last2=Schuettpelz |first2=Eric |last3=Ramírez-Barahona |first3=Santiago |last4=Iwasaki |first4=Wataru |display-authors=et al. |year=2022 |title=An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life |journal=Frontiers in Plant Science |volume=13 |issue= |page= 909768| doi=10.3389/fpls.2022.909768 |pmid= 36092417|pmc= 9449725|bibcode= |doi-access=free}}{{cite web|last1= |first1= |last2= |display-authors=et al. |year=2024 |title=Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL |url=https://fernphy.github.io/viewer.html |version=FTOL v1.7.0 (GenBank release 261) |access-date=1 May 2025}}

{{Clade | style=font-size:90%;line-height:80%

|1={{clade

|1=G. polypodioides (L.) Sm. (Kystervaring)

|2={{clade

|1=G. alpina R.Br. (Alpine coral fern)

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=G. mendellii (G.Schneid.) S.B.Andrews

|2=G. microphylla R.Br. (Scrambling coral fern, parasol fern, umbrella fern)

}}

|2={{clade

|1=G. dicarpa R.Br. (Pouched coral fern, tangle fern)

|2={{clade

|1=G. rupestris R.Br.

|2={{clade

|1=G. abscida Rodway (Dwarf coral fern)

|2=G. inclusisora Perrie, L.D.Sheph. & Brownsey

}}

}}

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Unassigned species:

• Gleichenia alstonii Holttum
• Gleichenia elongata Baker
• Gleichenia matthewii Holttum
• Gleichenia paleacea (Copel.) Holttum
• Gleichenia peltophora Copel.
• Gleichenia ×punctulata Colenso
• Gleichenia vulcanica Blume

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39534/39534-h/39534-h.htm#Gleichenia Smith's original description of the genus online at Project Gutenberg]

{{Plant classification}}

{{Fern classification}}

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Category:Fern genera

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