RT Journal Article
T1 First Record of Sporangiasters in the Blechnaceae
A1 Molino De Miguel, Sonia
A1 Sundue, Michael
A1 Testo, Weston
AB Sporangiasters are an uncommon type of paraphyses, occurring in a handful of leptosporangiate fern genera. We report sporangiasters in Parablechnum nesophilum, which is their first recorded occurrence in the Blechnaceae. We provide evidence of their homology to sporangia and discuss their functional significance. The presence of sporangiasters in P. nesophilum is surprising because the species has a well-developed indusium, and paraphyses are generally most common in exindusiate ferns. We surmise that these sporangiasters act as a second stage of protection for the developing sporangia after the indusium retracts. Alternatively, it is possible that sporangiasters may influence the vagility of spores by inhibiting dehiscence and limiting the ability of the annulus to disperse its spores.
PB BioOne
SN 0002-8444
YR 2021
FD 2021-09-02
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133343
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133343
LA eng
NO Molino, S., M. Sundue & W. Testo. 2021. First record of sporangiasters in the Blechnaceae. American Fern Journal. 111(3): 196–204
NO Thanks to David Barrington, Robbin Moran, Carmen Prada, and Teresa Terrazas for their helpful comments, and to Myriam Gonzalez for the SEM photos. Sonia Molino received support from UCM and Banco Santander for the pre-doctoral contract of (CT27/18) and for the project with reference PR87/19-22616, which financed part of the work. Michael Sundue received support from the Tryon Pteridophyte Library at The University of Vermont.
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Banco de Santander
NO University of Vermont
DS Docta Complutense
RD 20 mar 2026