Angiopteris

Angiopteris is a genus of huge evergreen ferns from the family Marattiaceae, found throughout the paleotropics from Madagascar to the South Pacific islands. They feature a large, erect, woody rhizome with a wide base supported by thick roots. The fronds are deltoid, pinnate, 5–8 metres (16–26 ft) long, with spreading leaflets. At the base of the fronds is a pair of thick, leathery stipules — in the case of A. canaliculata, measuring up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long and wide. Species of smaller stature with elongate synangia and creeping rhizomes are sometimes segregated into the genus Archangiopteris, and a once-pinnate monotypic segregate genus has been called Macroglossum, but molecular data supports inclusion of these taxa within a broad concept of Angiopteris. Angiopteris is unique among ferns in having explosively dispersed spores, thought to be caused by the cavitation of an airspace between spore layers. The basal chromosome number for this genus is 2n=80. The type species is Angiopte......read more on Wikipedia.