Stenochlaena
Stenochlaena is a genus of ferns of the plant family Blechnaceae. Six species were formally accepted in an April 2013 scientific review of the genus, first written some years earlier and submitted in 2009.[1] One additional species S. hainanensis awaits confirmation of its difference from S. palustris by means of differences in fertile material and/or its formal publication.[1] One additional likely species grows naturally in Cameroon, Africa, recognised with the descriptive name Stenochlaena sp. 'Cameroon' but it awaits formal description.[1]
Stenochlaena | |
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Stenochlaena palustris in West Kalimantan, Indonesia | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Class: | Polypodiopsida |
Order: | Polypodiales |
Suborder: | Aspleniineae |
Family: | Blechnaceae |
Subfamily: | Stenochlaenoideae |
Genus: | Stenochlaena J.Sm. |
Some species of Stenochlaena are common as climbing ferns in South-East Asian rainforests. After the end-Cretaceous mass extinction caused by an asteroid impact, a species of Stenochlaena was essentially the only common plant across North America for several thousand years.
Stenochlaena palustris is known as midin in Sarawak, Malaysia and it is eaten as a popular vegetable similar to fiddlehead ferns, which is usually flavoured with shrimp paste.[2][3] In India[4] and parts of Indonesia, it is flavoured and eaten with garlic cloves. In South Kalimantan it is called kalakai.
Species
Southern India, Indochina, Malaysia, Papuasia, Northern Australia and Southwestern Pacific
- Stenochlaena areolaris (Harr.) Copel.
- Stenochlaena cumingii Holttum
- Stenochlaena hainanensis Ching & P.S.Chiu ? ⇒ S. palustris
- Stenochlaena milnei Underw.
- Stenochlaena palustris (Burm.f.) Bedd.
Africa and African Islands
References
- Chambers, T. Carrick (11 April 2013). "A review of the genus Stenochlaena (Blechnaceae, subfamily Stenochlaenoideae)". Telopea. Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia: National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. 15: 13–36. doi:10.7751/telopea2013004.CS1 maint: location (link)
- Churchill, Edward (6 April 2018). "Enjoy your midin without fear — Professor". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- Paul P.K., Chai (April 2016). "Midin (Stenochlaena palustris), the popular wild vegetable of Sarawak" (PDF). Agriculture Science Journal. Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. 2 (2): 18–20. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- Ethnobotanical Leaflets