Angiopteris is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of huge evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s from the Marattiaceae family, found throughout the paleotropics from Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

 to the South Pacific islands

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

. Species of smaller stature with elongate synangia and creeping rhizomes are sometimes segregated into the genus Archangiopteris, and a once-pinnate monotypic segregate genus has been called Macroglossum, but molecular data supports inclusion of these taxa within a broad concept of Angiopteris.

Angiopteris evecta

Angiopteris evecta

Angiopteris evecta, commonly known as the Giant Fern, is a rare plant occurring in eastern and northern Australia. Also found growing in nearby islands such as New Guinea and various places in Polynesia and Melanesia. Listed as endangered by extinction in New South Wales, where it has been recorded...

has been introduced and naturalized in Hawaii, Jamaica, and parts of Central America, where it has become an invasive weed in lower elevation drainages. They feature a large, erect, woody rhizome

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

 with a wide base supported by thick roots. The fronds are deltoid, pinnate, 5–8 m (16.4–26.2 ) long, with spreading leaflets.

The basal chromosome number for this genus is 2n=80. The type species is Angiopteris evecta

Angiopteris evecta

Angiopteris evecta, commonly known as the Giant Fern, is a rare plant occurring in eastern and northern Australia. Also found growing in nearby islands such as New Guinea and various places in Polynesia and Melanesia. Listed as endangered by extinction in New South Wales, where it has been recorded...

.

Species

Angiopteris taxonomy is poorly understood, with nearly 200 poorly-defined named species, only a small handful of which are recognized in modern floras.

• Angiopteris evecta
  Angiopteris evecta
  Angiopteris evecta, commonly known as the Giant Fern, is a rare plant occurring in eastern and northern Australia. Also found growing in nearby islands such as New Guinea and various places in Polynesia and Melanesia. Listed as endangered by extinction in New South Wales, where it has been recorded...
  
  (G. Forst.) Hoffm.
• Angiopteris hypoleuca
• Angiopteris javanica
• Angiopteris palmiformis
• Angiopteris pruinosa
• Angiopteris suboppositifolia