Marattia purpurascens

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Marattia purpurascens deVriese is a large fern belonging to the Marattiaceae. It has a globular rhizome with stipule-like fleshy outgrowths. The leaves are dark green, twice pinnate and up to 1 metre long. Every pinnule has up to six pairs of leaflets. The petioles are dark-purplish, hence the name 'purpurascens' meaning 'becoming purple'. The sporangia are fused in all Marattia into a bivalvate synangium.

Conservation plans have been proposed for Marattia purpurascens, an endemic of the distant Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, where a single population remains on Green Mountain. This population is now believed to be more stable than previously feared, but long-term threats to its survival do exist, in the form of competition with alien invasive species like introduced plants such as Lantana camara L. and grazing by sheep.

References

Gray, A., Palembe, T., Stroud, S. 2005. The conservation of the endemic vascular flora of Ascension Island and threats from alien species. Oryx 39: 449-453. [1]

See the ARKive site for additional information [2]