Ceratopteris
genus of plants
Ceratopteris is the only genus among homosporous ferns that is exclusively aquatic. It is pan-tropical and classified in the Parkerioideae subfamily of the family Pteridaceae.
Description
Erect aquatic or subaquatic ferns of moderate size. Rhizome short, fleshy, horizontal and ascending to erect, loosely rooted in the mud or +/- floating, radial, dictyostelic with numerous meristeles and medullary strands, young parts bearing thin, ovate, +/- cordate, clathrate scales. Fronds stipitate, the stipes fleshy, with numerous longitudinal air canals, abaxially rounded and ribbed, adaxially flattened, vascular bundles in a peripheral ring, one with each rib and several to the adaxial side, and several smaller medullary strands; lamina dimorphic, sterile fronds +/- spreading, 2–3-pinnatifid with broad membranous lobes, venation reticulate without included free veinlets, often with proliferous buds in the axils; fertile fronds erect, longer, narrower and more divided than the sterile, the lobes strongly recurved to completely cover the adaxial surface, venation longitudinal, branching at the bases of the lobes. Sporangia solititary, scattered along the veins, exindusiate but protected by the continuous reflexed margin of the lamina, large, short-stalked, annulus broad, irregular, of 30–70 thickened cells, or lacking, containing 16 to 32 spores. Spores large, trilete, ribbed with irregular long meshes.
Taxonomy
Ceratopteris was long placed in the monogeneric family Parkeriaceae, thought to be unique because of its aquatic adaptations. However, recent genetic analysis has shown it to be clearly allied with Acrostichum in the subfamily Parkerioideae, within the family Pteridaceae.
At one time, some authorities recognized only one species; now some authorities recognize only four species.
“Ceratopteris” enters the record as genus of plants. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ceratopteris, genus and plants can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Ceratopteris” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ceratopteris, genus and plants provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1766479. The Library of Congress control number is sh88022221. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Ceratopteris” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.