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Pteridium Aquilinum

Ferns and Fern Allies

Pteridium aquilinum, commonly called bracken, brake, pasture brake, or eagle fern, is a fern native to Eurasia and North America that now has a cosmopolitan distribution across temperate and subtropical regions of both hemispheres, in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. A herbaceous perennial growing 0.3 to 1 meter tall from an underground rhizome, it produces large, roughly triangular fronds, dies back each season, and forms dense colonies of genetically identical fronds that can persist for more than 1,400 years; it thrives in acidic soils across pastures, woodlands, and hillsides from southern Alaska to northern Mexico and the Greater Antilles. It contains the carcinogenic compound ptaquiloside, linked to haemorrhagic disease in livestock and gastric cancer in humans, yet is the fifth most widely distributed weed in the world and is eaten in Korea and Japan despite the toxicity risk.

Facts

Classification

Diet

Photosynthetic Autotroph 1

System (Realm)

Terrestrial 2

Relationship to People

Used in Traditional Medicine 1

Comparison

NatureServe Rank

G5 Secure 3

CITES Appendix

Not Listed 4

Conservation Status

Least Concern 1

Connections

Child Taxon Of

Source Wikidata: Bracken

In Biome

Source NatureServe Explorer: Pteridium aquilinum

Source NatureServe Explorer: Pteridium aquilinum

In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources

1. Pteridium aquilinum (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia Foundation

infobox status=LC
lead sentence (diet), EntityId 341124
Pteridium aquilinum, commonly called bracken, brake, pasture brake, common bracken, and also known as eagle fern, is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres.
article text (relationship to people), EntityId 341124
In Finnish traditional medicine, bracken has been used as a remedy in many ways: Elias Lönnrot advised to use a powder made of the plant's roots to drive away maggots.

View the Source

2. GBIF Species API

GBIF Species APIView the Source

3. NatureServe Explorer: Pteridium aquilinum

NatureServe Explorer

Global rank (roundedGRank)
"roundedGRank": "G5"
In Biome: Savanna, Species characteristics: Savanna
"terrestrialHabitatDescEn": "Savanna"
In Biome: Grassland, Species characteristics: Grassland/herbaceous
"terrestrialHabitatDescEn": "Grassland/herbaceous"

View the Source

4. UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat): Species+: Polypodiales

UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat)Species+ taxon_concepts, id 12392

Quote, Species+ taxon_concepts, id 12392

"active":true,"cites_listing":"NC"

View the Source

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

International Union for Conservation of NatureView the Source

UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat): Species+: Dennstaedtiaceae

UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat)Species+ taxon_concepts, id 12453

Quote, Species+ taxon_concepts, id 12453

"active":true,"cites_listing":"NC"

View the Source

Wikidata: Bracken

Child Taxon Of: Pteridophyta, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chainView the Source

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