English: Hand fern; Dwarf staghorn; Hand tongue.
Synonym: Ophioderma palmatum; Ophioglossum palmatum.
Clades:
Ophioglossaceae;
Ophioglossales;
Equisetales;
Equisetidae.
Genus: 3 species.
Region: worldwide, Florida.
BotanyFern; epiphytic, in old leaf bases of Sabal palm, or terrestrial.
Root: pale yellowish-brown; dichotomous.
Leaves: palmately lobed; roughly shaped like a hand; margins entire; up to 30 cm wide; fertile leaves are a set of small tapering sporophores that bear the spores, several to many at the base of each leaf blade.
Reproduction: sporophores are the sporangial clusters with sporangia in two rows, all embedded in compact, linear spikes; main areoles large, usually more than 30 mm; gametophytes are brown to white, cylindric, and repeatedly branched.
TaxonomyCheiroglossa has been placed in the genus Ophioglossum, Ophioderma. Cheiroglossa is sometimes recognized as a separate genus, as in the Pteridophyte
Phylogeny Group classification of 2016.