Flora of North America species comparison

The family Dryopteridaceae has been variously circumscribed; it is here delimited in a manner similar to that of R. M. Tryon and A. F. Tryon (1982) but with the inclusion of Nephrolepis. In many works, the family has gone under the illegitimate name Aspidiaceae. Some authorities define Dryopteridaceae more narrowly, to exclude Athyrium, Deparia, Diplazium, Cystopteris, and Gymnocarpium (Athyriaceae or Woodsiaceae), Woodsia (Woodsiaceae), Lomariopsis (Lomariopsidaceae), Nephrolepis (Nephrolepidaceae or Davalliaceae), Onoclea and Matteuccia (Onocleaceae), and Ctenitis and Tectaria (Tectariaceae). Characteristics holding Dryopteridaceae (as circumscribed here) together include the bilateral, monolete spores, often broadly winged perispore, absence of needlelike hairs, scaly stem and petiole bases, abaxial (nonmarginal) sori, base chromosome number of 40 or 41 (also 38 and 39 in Woodsia, 37 in Onoclea, 42 in Cystopteris), and usually indusiate sori. Loss of indusium, dimorphism, areolate venation, and reduced blade dissection have occurred repeatedly along many evolutionary lines in Dryopteridaceae, and in general these characteristics are often not very useful in delimiting genera or assessing intergeneric relationships.

In some genera, especially Phanerophlebia and Polystichum, the blade bears very narrow scales (sometimes called microscales) that resemble uniseriate hairs. These scales may be only one or two cells wide. Every intergradation exists between these filiform microscales and more typical, wider scales, and the two types are the same color, generally tan to brownish. Microscales are probably not homologous with true hairs, which may be either unicellular or multicellular, uncolored or sometimes reddish (as in Tectaria and Ctenitis), glandular (as in Woodsia) or not. Hairs in Dryopteridaceae, if present at all, are generally readily distinguishable from the needlelike, transparent ones found in Thelypteridaceae.

Genera ca. 60, species perhaps exceeding 3000 (18 genera, 79 species in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The mating systems of Polystichum seem to be highly outcrossing (P. S. Soltis and D. E. Soltis 1987; P. S. Soltis et al. 1989); hybrids are frequent where two or more species occur. Sterile hybrids are discussed under one of their putative parents.

Sterile hybrids are best recognized by their misshapen sporangia, which produce little black dots at the end of the season instead of forming the fuzzy brown bump typical of sori after spores have been expelled. In many cases the intermediacy and robustness of hybrids make them stand out as odd. At least one or two hybrid plants are to be expected in large, mixed populations. The allopolyploids, having hybrid origins, present particular problems. They exhibit the Vavilov effect: allopolyploids tend to resemble one of their parental species when they grow with, or in the habitat typical of, that species (D. S. Barrington et al. 1989).

In the flora there are six diploids, five tetraploids, one hexaploid, and three species whose chomosome number is unknown. Relationships among the diploids are generally not very close; that is, each is probably more closely related to a species outside the flora than to one of the other species in the flora. The exception to this is the group composed of Polystichum acrostichoides, P. imbricans, and P. munitum. Polystichum acrostichoides appears to share a Tertiary common ancestor with P. munitum, and P. imbricans is more recently derived from P. munitum. All of the polyploid species are fertile allopolyploids. One of these species (P. braunii) is also involved in the formation of the hexaploid P. setigerum (see below).

Relationships among Polystichum Species

Allopolyploid Presumed Originating Crosses andersonii kwakiutlii × munitum californicum dudleyi × imbricans or dudleyi × munitum kruckebergii lemmonii × lonchitis scopulinum lemmonii × imbricans or lemmonii × munitum setigerum braunii × munitum

The morphological similarity among Polystichum species may make identification difficult, particularly among the species with more divided leaves. The keys presented here are designed for mature, typical individuals. Some of the characters mentioned in the keys and descriptions require the use of a microscope. The microscales (small trichomes that occur on the abaxial leaf surface of all species and adaxially in some) are best observed by peeling them off with cellophane tape and mounting the tape on a slide, sticky side up, under a coverslip. The tape can also be used to lift off the components of the sori. Polystichum acrostichoides, P. andersonii, P. lemmonii, and P. munitum are known to have sclereid clusters in their pith. Polystichum imbricans lacks such clusters, and data are not available for the other species.

Species ca. 180 (15 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)