Acrostichum thalictroides L. Naturalized

Latin name for a meadow rue or buttercup, thalzctrum, + -oides, resembling.

Description matches that of genus.

Found in a variety of wet or aquatic habitats such as rice and taro fields, ponds, streams, swamps, and ditches, at lower elevations on O'ahu and Kaua'i.

This pantropical species was probably brought to Hawai 'i by Chinese rice growers and may have been grown for its edible young leaves. It was first collected in Hawai 'i in 1919, but had been recorded as early as 1907. Formerly common, it has become limited in distribution, because of reduced wetland habitat and weed control.

Ceratopteris thalictroides may be recognized by its habitat in water or mud, its succulent fleshy quality, fibrous roots, and fertile pinnae that are longer and narrower than the sterile pinnae.