You’re so Vein…Anastomosing, that is

Nurses and plant taxonomists are among the few fields in which you would run into the term, anastomosing veins. Having been in the plant world all my life, I had never even run into the term until trying to key our some bamboo ferns in the genus, Coniogramme, almost a decade ago. It turns out that to distinguish between species, you need to determine if the spore patterns on the back of the leaf have an anastomosing or parallel vein pattern. Anastomosing veins are those which diverge and reconnect forming a pattern like a snake skin. We’ve grown quite a few ferns, but none have the amazing vein patterns of coniogramme. Below are the leaf backs of Coniogramme japonica in fall.

Coniogramme japonica - spore pattern on leaf back
Coniogramme japonica – spore pattern on leaf back
Close up of Coniogramme japonica showing anastomosing veins
Coniogramme japonica – spore pattern close up

2 thoughts on “You’re so Vein…Anastomosing, that is”

  1. Katherine Wagner-Reiss

    Very cool. And, according to Botanary, the genus name, Coniogramme, means “dusty line,” referring to the spore pattern.

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