Lindsaea sect. Schizoloma
Content
Distribution
Australasia, Japan present, Madagascar present, New Zealand present, Pantropic present
Pantropic, extending far into the temperate zone in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Many species concentrated in Madagascar.
Taxonomy
The short-creeping rhizome and the lamina lacking a conform terminal pinna characterize nearly all species. L. orbiculata (Lamk) Mett. ex Kuhn is sometimes only simply pinnate, and L. ensifolia Swartz subsp. ensifolia is simply pinnate with a conform non-dimidiate terminal pinnrf, but otherwise the section is quite clear-cut. It seems to be the most primitive in the genus, with the possible exception of the New Caledonian sect. Davalliastrum. Several other subdivisions of the genus comprise one or a few species that show definite affinity with sect. Schizoloma; among the most in- teresting are some Madagascan species with the rhizome of subg. Odontoloma but a Schizoloma-like leaf architecture.