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Genus Sticherus in Family Gleicheniaceae

In botanical taxonomy, a genus (plural genera) is a rank used to group closely related species within a family. In the hierarchy, genus sits below family and above species.

Genera are defined by shared morphological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics (for example, features of flowers, fruits, seeds, or leaves) that indicate a close evolutionary relationship among the species they contain.

Each genus can include one or more species. Examples include Rosa (roses) and Solanum (nightshades, including tomato and eggplant).

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Genus Description

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Sticherus (Authority C.Presl) is a large genus in Gleicheniaceae comprising about a hundred species with a pantropical distribution that extends into warm-temperate areas in Australasia and the Americas, occurring from sea level to subalpine elevations in habitats ranging from rainforests to open shrublands and high-rainfall savannas. The type is Sticherus laevigatus (Willd.) C.Presl, widely accepted in recent treatments. As a Gleichenioid fern, it has creeping, long-creeping or scandent rhizomes covered with non-clathrate (soliculoid) scales, and fronds are typically pseudodichotomously branched with ultimate segments pinnate to bipinnatifid. The genus is distinguished within Gleicheniaceae by combination of long, jointed, scaly internodes on axes that bear persistent, non-laminar peltate scales; absent indusia; and sori lacking paraphyses, with mature sporangia dispersed well before maturation of the rest of the frond. Two subsections—‘Laevigati’ and ‘Biserrati’—have long been recognized, separating species with smooth versus toothed axes, but circumscription remains inconsistently applied. Centered diversity is in Malesia, Australasia, and tropical America, with numerous endemics in New Guinea and the SW Pacific; Atlantic-drainage South America harbors several distinct species, while Montane West Africa and Madagascar contribute a few. Sticherus is ecologically early-successional, colonizing disturbed sites, landslides, and exposed ridge crests where competition from broadleaf trees is reduced.

Spore dispersal is passive wind-mediated via annulate sporangia that dehisce through the vertical annulus; gametophytes are small and protocorm-like, permitting colonization of distant microsites. Hybridization is documented in some contact zones. Traditional counts of x = 26 are widely used, though comprehensive cytological data remain incomplete; polyploidy is evident in several Malesian species. Phylogenetic studies have clarified the position of Sticherus in a monophyletic Gleicheniaceae, yet the stability of subgeneric ranks and the precise circumscription of Sticherus vis-à-vis Gleichenia remain debated (Holtum, 1969; Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth, 2000; PPG I, 2016). Recent checklist databases maintain Sticherus as a separate genus (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024), while some taxonomic treatments treat part of the diversity within Gleichenia (Christenhusz & Chase, 2014).

Few Sticherus are in commercial horticulture, though a few hardy southern hemisphere species are occasionally cultivated as groundcovers in moist, shaded sites; some lowland tropical taxa are common pioneers and may become weedy in highly disturbed environments. Although many species are widespread, a number of narrow endemics are threatened by habitat loss and climate shifts (IUCN, 2023). Enhanced phylogenetic resolution and standardized conservation assessments would improve the outlook for the most vulnerable taxa.

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