Teratophyllum ludens

Teratophyllum is a member of the Bolbitidoid ferns (Elaphoglossoideae), characterized by having dimorphic sterile and fertile fronds with acrostichoid sori, and rhizomes with an elongate ventral meristele and ventral root insertion. Within this clade, it is one of the genera with distinct bathyphylls and acrophylls — different leaf morphologies that reflect where in the canopy the leaves developed. Near the ground and in the lower canopy the leaves are small, appressed to the host tree, and asymmetrical. In the upper canopy, the leaves are large, held away from the host tree, and symmetrical. Intermediate leaves occur between these. Nothing is know about the ecophysiology of these different leaf morphologies. The rhizome and root morphology of T. ludens would suggest that it is a primary hemiephyte, but while collecting this plant I noted that it took on a variety of habit and it seemed like it might in fact descend from trees back to the ground and then ascend other trees, changing leaf morphology along the way. More study is needed.