Pteris vittata

Pteris vittata, the Chinese brake,^[4] Chinese ladder brake,^[4] or simply ladder brake,^[4] is a fern species in the Pteridoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae.^[5] It is indigenous to Asia, southern Europe, tropical Africa, and Australia.^[4] The type specimen was collected in China by Pehr Osbeck.^[2]

Pteris vittata
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Family:	Pteridaceae
Genus:	Pteris
Species:	P. vittata
Binomial name
Pteris vittata L.[2]
Synonyms[3]
Pteris costata Bory P. diversifolia Sw. P. ensifolia Poir. P. inaequilateralis Poir. P. longifolia Wall. P. microdonata Gaudin P. vittata fo. cristata Ching in Ching & S.H.Wu Pycnodoria vittata (L.) Small

Habitat and distribution

Pteris vittata is native and widespread in the paleotropics: found from the east, to the south tropical, and southern Africa (in Angola; Kenya; Lesotho; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Tanzania (including the Zanzibar Archipelago); Cape Province, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Transvaal in South Africa; Eswatini; Uganda; Zambia; and Zimbabwe); temperate and tropical Asia (in the provinces of Anhui, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xizang, and Yunnan in China; the prefectures of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan; and Thailand); and Australia, in the states of New South Wales,^[6] Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia.^[4]

Pteris vittata is often associated with limestone habitats. It may be seen growing on concrete structures and cracks, in buildings in the central business district and suburbs of Sydney.^[6][7] It is an introduced species in California, Texas, and the Southeastern United States.^[8]

A remnant population exists in the Italian peninsula, in Sicily, Calabria and Campania.^[9]

Uses

Although it grows readily in the wild, Pteris vittata is sometimes cultivated.^[4] It is grown in gardens for its attractive appearance,^[4] or used in pollution control schemes:^[4] it is known to be a hyperaccumulator plant of arsenic used in phytoremediation.^[10]

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  Pteris vittata from Antalya city in Turkey
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  Pinnae undersides of P. vittata from Antalya
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  Sori of P. vittata from Antalya
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  Pinna basal shape (underside) of P. vittata from Antalya
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  Pinna basal shape (upperside) of P. vittata from Antalya
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  Young P. vittata from Antalya
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  Unfurling frond tip of P. vittata from Antalya
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  Unfurling fronds of P. vittata from Antalya

Suggested reading

• Cong Tu and Lena Q. Ma; Effects of Arsenic Concentrations and Forms on Arsenic Uptake by the Hyperaccumulator Ladder Brake, Journal of Environmental Quality doi:10.2134/jeq2002.6410 Vol. 31 No. 2, p. 641-647 (résumé)