Todea

{{Short description|Genus of ferns}} {{Automatic taxobox | oldest_fossil = Early Cretaceous | image = Todea barbara, Molweni-boloop, Krantzkloof NR, a.jpg | image_caption = ''Todea barbara'' | taxon = Todea | authority = Willdenow ex Bernhardi | type_species = ''Todea africana'' | type_species_authority = Willdenow 1802 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * †''T. amissa'' * ''T. barbara'' * ''T. papuana'' * †''T. tidwellii'' * †''T. minutacaulis'' }}

The fern genus '''''Todea''''' is known from only two living species. Species in the genus ''Todea'', as ''Leptopteris'', are distinct from other in Osmundaceae in that sporangia are born on laminar pinnules.

== Description == The species in the genus have a sub-erect stem and coarse, pinnate leaves. Many large sporangia are located on the bottoms of the leaves and are not arranged in sori or covered by an indusium.<ref name="Peninsula">{{Cite book |last=Levyns |first=M.R. |title=A Guide to the Flora of the Cape Peninsula |publisher=Juta & Company, Limited |year=1966 |edition=2nd Revised |oclc=621340}}</ref>

== Species == Only two extant species are currently recognised. ''Todea barbara'' L., known as the king fern, is native to South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia while ''Todea papuana'' H. is known only from Papua New Guinea.

So far the fossil record of the genus ''Todea'' consists only of the permineralized rhizome ''Todea tidwellii'' from the Lower Cretaceous of Vancouver Island, Canada and the species ''Todea amissa'', known from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina.<ref>{{cite journal|author=M. R. Carvalho |author2=P. Wilf |author3=E. J. Hermsen |author4=M. A. Gandolfo |author5=N. R. Cuneo |author6=K. R. Johnson |title=First record of Todea (Osmundaceae) in South America, from the early Eocene paleorainforests of Laguna del Hunco (Patagonia, Argentina)|journal=American Journal of Botany|year=2013|volume=100|issue=9|pages=1831–1848|doi=10.3732/ajb.1200637|pmid=24018858|hdl=11336/5393 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> ''Todea minutacaulis'' has also been described from the Lower Cretaceous of Vancouver Island and represents the first anatomically preserved fossil fern sporeling from the fossil record.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Nathan Jud, Gar W.Rothwell and Ruth A. Stockey. 2008. "''Todea'' from the Lower Cretaceous of western North America: implications for the phylogeny, systematics, and evolution of modern Osmundaceae." American Journal of Botany, 95:330-339. * E.Hennipman. 1968. A new ''Todea'' from New Guinea, with remarks on the generic delimitation of recent Osmundaceae. Blumea 16: 105-108 * C.Michael Hogan. 2010. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Fern?topic=49480 ''Fern''. Encyclopedia of Earth. eds. Saikat Basu and C.Cleveland. National Council for Science and the Environment]. Washington DC. * Walker, Z., Rothwell, G. W., & Stockey, R. A. 2023. [https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajb2.16210 Fossil evidence for sporeling development of a Mesozoic osmundaceous fern]. ''American Journal of Botany'', 110: e16210-n/a. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16210</nowiki>

==External links== {{Commons category|Todea| Todea}} *[http://www.home.aone.net.au/~byzantium/ferns/descriptions/todea/todea.html "Ferns and Fern Allies in the Canberra Region" - ''Todea barbara'' (King Fern)] - ''includes photos'' (author: David Nicholls, January 1998).

Category:Osmundales Category:Ferns of Australasia Category:Fern genera Category:Taxa described in 1801