| Trichomanes | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Hymenophyllales |
| Family: | Hymenophyllaceae |
| Genus: | Trichomanes |
Trichomanes is a large genus of ferns in the family Hymenophyllaceae, termed bristle ferns. Some botanists place it in its own family, Trichomanaceae. All ferns in the hymenophylloid clade are filmy ferns, with leaf tissue typically 2 cells thick. This thinness generally necessitates a permanently humid habitat, and makes the fronds somewhat translucent.
The name bristle fern refers to the small bristle that protrudes from the indusia of these ferns.
At least one species now is known to exist solely in its gametophytic stage. Trichomanes intricatum has no known sporophytes and is native to eastern North America.
Trichomanes contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete):
(Northridge, 2007)[1]