Psilotum

Psilotum
Closeup of Psilotum nudum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Psilotales
Family: Psilotaceae
Genus: Psilotum
Sw.
Type species
Psilotum nudum
(L.) Beauvois
Species
Synonyms
  • Hoffmannia Willdenow 1789
  • Bernhardia Willdenow 1802
  • Tristeca Palisot De Beauvisage ex de Mirbel 1802

Psilotum is a genus of fern-like vascular plants. It is one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae commonly known as whisk ferns, the other being Tmesipteris. Plants in these two genera were once thought to be descended from the earliest surviving vascular plants, but more recent phylogenies place them as basal ferns, as a sister group to Ophioglossales. They lack true roots and leaves are very reduced,[1] the stems being the organs containing photosynthetic and conducting tissue. There are only two species in Psilotum and a hybrid between the two. They differ from those in Tmesipteris in having stems with many branches and a synangium with three lobes rather than two.

  1. ^ Friedman, William E.; Moore, Richard C.; Purugganan, Michael D. (2004). "The evolution of plant development". American Journal of Botany. 91 (10). Botanical Society of America (Wiley): 1726–1741. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1726. ISSN 0002-9122. PMID 21652320.