Lygodium (climbing fern) is a genus of about 40 species of ferns, native to tropical regions across the world, with a few temperate species in eastern Asia and eastern North America. It is the sole genus in the family Lygodiaceae, though included in the family Schizaeaceae by some botanists.

They are unusual in that the rachis, or midrib, of the frond is thin, flexible, and long, the frond unrolling with indeterminate growth and the rachis twining around supports, so that each frond forms a distinct vine. The fronds may be from 3-12 m long, depending on the species.

Selected species

• Lygodium articulatum – Tropical southeast Asia.
• Lygodium circinatum – Tropical Asia and Australasia.
• Lygodium conforme – China.
• Lygodium cubense – Cuba, Hispaniola.
• Lygodium digitatum – China.
• Lygodium flexuosum – Southern China south to northern Australasia.
• Lygodium japonicum – Japanese climbing fern. Eastern Asia south to northern Australia.
• Lygodium microphyllum – Old World tropics.
• Lygodium microstachyum – China.
• Lygodium palmatum – American climbing fern. Eastern United States (rare, confined to acid soils).
• Lygodium polystachyum – China.
• Lygodium reticulatum – Australia, Polynesia.
• Lygodium salicifolium – Southern China south to northern Australasia.
• Lygodium scandens – Southern China south to northern Australia.
• Lygodium subareolatum – China.
• Lygodium trifurcatum – Tropical southeast Asia south to northern Australasia.
• Lygodium volubile – Northern South America, Central America, Caribbean.
• Lygodium versteeghii – Tropical southeast Asia south to northern Australasia.
• Lygodium yunnanense – Southern China.

Cultivation and uses

Some species of Lygodium are edible, and used as a vegetable.

Two species, Lygodium japonicum and Lygodium microphyllum have been introduced to the United States as ornamental plants, where they have become invasive species throughout the deep south, growing in a variety of soils. Lygodium japonicum is also sparsely naturalised in Hawai'i.

References

---

• Flora of North America: Lygodium
• Australian Plant Name Index: Lygodium
• Flora of China: Lygodium species list

Pteridophyta

カニクサ