Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Nephrolepis cordifolia
helecho espada, helecho peine, fishbone fern, herringbone fern, sword fern




Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Pteridophyta
Class
Pteridopsida
Order
Polypodiales
Family
Nephrolepidaceae
Genus
Nephrolepis
Species
cordifolia
Taxon category: Accepted
The native "N. cordifolia" of Wiggins & Porter (1971) and Lawesson et al. (1987) was identified as N. pectinata. Earlier records refer to N. pectinata (q. v.). Family changed from Davalliaceae to Nephrolepidaceae (Hassler, 2022; GBIF, 2024; ), also refered in Polypodiaceae (POWO, 2024)
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 2002
Mode of introduction: Intentional
Introduction Pathway: Intentional
Subpathway: Agriculture/Horticulture
Introduced status: Human dependent
Invasive status: No data
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
- Lawesson, J.E. Adsersen, H. & Bentley, P. (1987) An updated and annotated check list of the vascular plants of the Galapagos islands. Rept. Bot. Inst., Univ. Aarhus 16: 1-74.
- Hooker, J.D. (1847) An Enumeration of the Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago; with descriptions of those which are new. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20: 163-233.
- Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
- Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
- Gerecke, R. Peck, S.B. & Pehofer, H.E. (1995) The invertebrate fauna of the inland waters of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador) - a limnological and zoogeographical summary. Arch. Hydrobiol./ Suppl. 107(2): 113-147.
- Blair, C. Newton, A. (1985) Epiphytic Colonies in the highlands of Santa Cruz Annual Report 1986-1687. Charles Darwin Research Station. Pg. 34,35.
- Guézou, A. Trueman, M., Buddenhagen, E., Chamorro, S., Guerrero, A.M., Pozo, P., Atkinson, R. (2010) An extensive Alien Plan Inventory from the Inhabited Areas of Galapagos Plos One/ www.plosone.org. Volume 5/ Issue 4/e10276
- Itow, S. (1987) Comunidades Herbaceas y Ericaceas en las tierras altas de Santa Cruz Islas Galápagos. Pg. 52 - 65. Memorias: Taller sobre investigación Botánica y manejo en Galápagos.
- Van der Werff, H.H. (1987) Los Helechos como indicadores de tipos de vegetación en las Islas Galápagos. Memorias. Investigación Botánica y Manejo en Galápagos. Pg.88-103
- GBIF Secretariat (2021) GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei Accessed via https://www.gbif.org/species/5284517
- Hassler, M. (2022) World Ferns. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World Hassler, M. (2022). World Ferns. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. Version 12.11; last update March 7th, 2022. www.worldplants.de/ferns/.
- Chen, C.-W. Sundue, M., Kuo, L.-Y., Teng, W.-C., Huang, Y.-M. (2017) Phylogenetic analyses place the monotypic Dryopolystichum within Lomariopsidaceae PhytoKeys 78: 83-107. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.78.12040
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Nephrolepis cordifolia", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=68. Accessed 22 June 2025.