1. Ceratopteris Brongniart, Bull. Sci. Soc. Philom. Paris. sér. 3, 8: 186. 1821.
Antler ferns, water ferns, floating ferns [Greek cerato, horned, and pteris, fern, referring to the antlerlike fertile leaf]
Parkeria Hooker, Exot. Fl. 2: plate 147. 1825
Plants 2--120 cm. Stems 1--10 mm diam., sparsely scaly. Leaves erect. Proximal leaves broad, simple and lobed to 4-pinnate, glabrous; distal leaves finely dissected with linear ultimate segments. Sporangia nearly sessile, usually densely packed, globose. Spores tetrahedral.
Species 3--4 (3 in the flora): tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions worldwide.
SELECTED REFERENCES
DeVol, C. E. 1957. The geographical distribution of Ceratopteris pteridoides. Amer. Fern J. 47: 67--72. Hickok, L. G. 1977. Cytological relationships between three diploid species of the fern genus Ceratopteris Brongn. Canad. J. Bot. 55: 1660--1667. Hickok, L. G. and E. J. Klekowski Jr. 1974. Inchoate speciation in Ceratopteris: An analysis of the synthesized hybrid C. richardii × C. pteridoides. Evolution 28: 439--446.