Flora of North America species comparison

compact, ascending, stout, 5–10 mm diam.;

scales uniformly reddish brown (or tan), linear-subulate, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, thin, margins entire to denticulate.

compact to long-creeping, ascending to horizontal, usually branched;

scales brown to tan or often bicolored with dark, central stripe and lighter margins, linear-subulate to lanceolate (rarely ovate), margins dentate, erose, or entire.

somewhat dimorphic, sterile leaves shorter and less divided than fertile leaves, clustered on stems, 5–50 cm;

croziers villous.

monomorphic to somewhat dimorphic, clustered to widely scattered, 2–100 cm.

reddish purple to nearly black, lustrous, rounded adaxially, without prominent articulation lines.

brown, black, straw-colored, or gray, rounded, flattened or with single longitudinal groove adaxially, glabrous or pubescent, usually with a few scales at base, with single vascular bundle.

elongate-deltate, usually 2-pinnate proximally, 2–18 cm wide;

rachis reddish purple throughout, straight, rounded adaxially, densely pubescent adaxially with short, curly, appressed hairs.

linear to ovate-deltate, 1–4-pinnate proximally, leathery or rarely somewhat herbaceous, abaxially glabrous, pubescent, or with hairlike scales scattered along costae, adaxially usually glabrous, dull, not striate;

rachis straight or flexuous.

linear-oblong, 10–75 mm, leathery, sparsely villous abaxially near midrib;

margins weakly recurved to plane on fertile segments, usually covering less than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders whitish, crenulate;

apex obtuse to slightly mucronate.

of blade usually stalked and free from costae, elliptic, lanceolate to linear, usually more than 4 mm wide;

base rounded, truncate, or cordate;

stalks often lustrous and dark colored;

segment margins reflexed to form confluent, poorly defined, false indusia extending entire length of segment.

perpendicular to rachis or ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 3–15 ultimate segments;

costae straight, 10–100 mm, often longer than ultimate segments.

of ultimate segments obscure.

of ultimate segments free or rarely anastomosing, usually obscure, pinnately branched and divergent distally.

greenish to whitish, narrow, clearly marginal, often concealing the sporangia.

long-stalked, containing 32 spores, not intermixed with farina-producing glands.

scattered along veins near segment margins, containing 32 or 64 spores, often intermixed with glands, farina-producing.

brown to tan (rarely yellow), tetrahedral-globose, rugose or cristate, lacking prominent equatorial ridge.

= 2n = 87, apogamous.

= 29.