项目缘起与目标
FOTW（Ferns and Lycophytes of the World，「世界蕨类与石松类植物」）是一个在线数字标本馆，于 2011 年由植物分类学家 Michael Sundue 在美国哥伦比亚大学发起；后他转任英国爱丁堡皇家植物园（Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, RBGE）研究员，专攻蕨类与石松类的系统学、演化与生态学。他把研究素材转向线上影像收藏，让全球同行都能免费查阅高质量的标本照片与采集记录。这是这类植物中第一个国际性的影像资料库，长期由他和 RBGE 的同事运营，截至 2026 年 5 月仍持续更新。
覆盖范围与板块
截至 2026 年 5 月，站点收录了 2,778 条公开发布的笔记，蕨类笔记约 2,541 条，石松类笔记 200 条，区域植物志 392 条，云雾林观察记录 308 条，普通采集报告 235 条，Las Orquídeas 项目笔记 88 条。导航区分成蕨类、石松类、植物志、影像墙、检索表、地图、数据、影像档案、检索九大块。「影像墙」按照片墙形式列出平台上的所有标本照片；「地图」用 MapPress Easy Google Maps 标注每个标本的采集点；「检索表」提供亚马逊低地、Selaginella Antioquia、新热带 Triplophyllum 三套分类检索；「数据」则发布可下载的同孢蕨类交配系统研究表格。
同行网络与机构合作
站点登记在册的合作者超过 30 位，长期写稿的有 Michael Sundue、H.T. Brent、Susana Vega、Alexandria Quinlan、Peter Hovenkamp（荷兰 Naturalis 生物多样性中心）、Jefferson Prado（圣保罗大学，巴西 Pteridaceae 与 Dryopteridaceae 专家）、Joel Nitta（东京，Phlegmariurus 系统学）、John Game（加州大学伯克利分校研究员）、Carl Rothfels、Ran Wei 等。采集地覆盖 33 国，按照片数量前几位是巴布亚新几内亚（474）、哥伦比亚（469）、哥斯达黎加（504）、墨西哥（309）、巴西（213）、美国（184）、马来西亚（79）、印度尼西亚（16）、日本（15）、意大利（15）。中国大陆记录 49 号照片，主要来自贵州、四川、广西的多年累积。
实地项目与重要考察
大型长期项目之一是哥伦比亚 PNN Las Orquídeas 国家自然公园，位于 Antioquia 省西部安第斯山脉、乔科生物地理区，公园面积 32,000 公顷，海拔从 350 米到 3,400 米。该调查由美国国家科学基金会资助，纽约植物园 Paola Pedraza 和哥伦比亚国立大学 Julio Betancur 主持生物调查，Sundue 多次入园采集并把所有蕨类石松类标本搬到站内。哥斯达黎加 Nectandra 云雾林保护区面积 158 公顷，主要为原始山地云雾林，海拔 1,000 米到 1,200 米，记录到 170 余种蕨类和石松类植物；哥伦比亚 El Centello 保护区的名录由 Sarah Morris、Sundue、Weston Testo、Alejandra Vasco 共同整理。在婆罗洲、热带澳大利亚、巴布亚新几内亚、日本京都大文字山与西芳寺、北海道等地也有连续多年的采集记录。
检索使用与版权
读者可以按属名（Abacopteris、Alsophila、Cyathea、Diplazium、Elaphoglossum、Hymenophyllum、Platycerium、Selaginella 等）浏览，也可按国家或地图查找记录。投稿须遵守站点条款：投稿者保留图片版权，授权 FOTW 在站内展示，第三方若要复用须另行联系原作者。联系表单公开，仅用于问题反馈，不做营销；评论与投稿会保留 IP 与浏览器信息做反垃圾处理。读者订阅邮件可在文章发布时收到提醒，老文章可自由检索。Sundue 与合作者欢迎读者把待鉴定的蕨类标本照片发到站上，他通常会回复鉴定意见。
站点简档、Sundue 的研究者简介与项目说明显示，FOTW 由 RBGE 与志愿同行共同维护，不隶属于商业机构。
Origins and aims
FOTW (Ferns and Lycophytes of the World) is an online digital herbarium launched in October 2011 by the plant taxonomist Michael Sundue, who is now based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) in Scotland and works on the systematics, evolution and ecology of ferns and lycophytes. He conceived the site as a free, image-led companion to the field collections of an international network of pteridologists. It remains the first cross-border image resource of its kind for these plants and, as of May 2026, is still updated regularly by Sundue and his RBGE colleagues.
Coverage and section map
As of May 2026, the site carries 2,778 publicly released notes — roughly 2,541 fern entries, 200 lycophyte entries, alongside 392 regional florulas, 308 cloud-forest observations, 235 general collection reports, and 88 Las Orquídeas project notes. The top menu covers Ferns, Lycophytes, Florulas, Image Wall, Keys, Map, Data, Videos, and Search. The Image Wall is a photo-mosaic of all specimen images on the platform; the Map, built on MapPress Easy Google Maps, plots each collection point on a world map; the Keys section hosts three identification tools, covering lowland Amazonian ferns, Selaginella of Antioquia, and neotropical Triplophyllum; the Data section publishes downloadable datasets on homosporous fern mating systems.
Contributor network and partner institutions
FOTW lists more than 30 registered contributors, with active posting by Michael Sundue, H.T. Brent, Susana Vega, Alexandria Quinlan, Peter Hovenkamp at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Jefferson Prado of the Universidade de São Paulo, Joel Nitta in Tokyo, John Game as a Research Associate at UC Berkeley, Carl Rothfels, Ran Wei and others. Specimens are illustrated from 33 countries. The most illustrated national checklists are Costa Rica with 504 records, Papua New Guinea with 474, Colombia with 469, Mexico with 309, Brazil with 213, the United States with 184, Malaysia with 79, China with 49, Indonesia with 16, Japan with 15 and Italy with 15. China’s 49 records come from multi-year fieldwork in Guizhou, Sichuan, and Guangxi.
Field projects and key surveys
One of the largest long-running projects documented on FOTW is the inventory of PNN Las Orquídeas National Natural Park in Antioquia, Colombia. The park covers 32,000 ha on the western Andean Cordillera Occidental in the Chocó biogeographic region, with elevations running from 350 m to 3,400 m. The survey was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and led by Paola Pedraza of the New York Botanical Garden and Julio Betancur of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, with Sundue contributing all fern and lycophyte collections. Costa Rica’s Nectandra Cloud Forest Reserve is a 158 ha tract of premontane primary forest between 1,000 m and 1,200 m on the Atlantic slope of the Cordillera de Tilarán, illustrated with more than 170 fern and lycophyte species. The El Centello Reserve checklist in Antioquia is curated jointly by Sarah Morris, Sundue, Weston Testo and Alejandra Vasco. Other recurring survey sites include Borneo across Sabah and Sarawak, tropical Australia, Papua New Guinea, Mount Daigo and Saiho-ji near Kyoto, and Kiyotaki River Trail in Hokkaido.
Use, search and licensing
Readers can browse by accepted genus name — Abacopteris, Alsophila, Cyathea, Diplazium, Elaphoglossum, Hymenophyllum, Platycerium, Selaginella and many more — by country, or by location on the map. Site terms reserve image copyright with the original photographer while granting FOTW a non-exclusive display licence; anyone wishing to reuse an image must contact the contributor listed under each post. The public Contact form exists for questions and feedback only and is not used for marketing; comments and uploads retain IP and browser metadata for spam filtering. Email subscribers receive notifications on new posts. Sundue and the contributor network welcome identification requests: visitors can send in their own fern photographs for an opinion on the species.
Site branding, contributor bios and project notes confirm that FOTW is run as a volunteer-run academic collaboration rather than a commercial entity.
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