Blechnum occidentale
Blechnum
hammock fern
deer ferns, midsorus fern
creeping to ascending or erect, slender to stout, sometimes climbing [rarely subarborescent];
scales brown or black.
monomorphic or variously dimorphic, cespitose to scattered.
pinnatifid to 1-pinnate, rarely simple or 2-pinnate.
free, often forked.
borne on vascular commissures parallel to costae, 1 per side, normally uninterrupted, linear, continuous along length of costa.
with perine smooth to variously winged or rugose.
and costae glabrous, scaly, or hairy abaxially.
= 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 36.
Blechnum occidentale
Blechnum
FL; GA; LA; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
Mostly tropical; especially Southern Hemisphere
Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species ca. 220 (3 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaves strongly dimorphic, fertile leaves notably more erect, longer, and with narrower pinnae than sterile leaves; sterile blades tapering at base. | B. spicant |
1. Leaves ± monomorphic, fertile leaves only slightly longer and somewhat contracted relative to sterile leaves; sterile blades ± truncate at base. | → 2 |
2. Blades 1-pinnate proximally and pinnatifid distally or pinnatifid nearly throughout, usually less than 50 cm; pinna margins ± entire. | occidentale var. minor |
2. Blades 1-pinnate throughout, usually more than 50 cm; pinna margins ± evenly serrulate. | B. serrulatum |
LA Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
