Flora of North America species comparison

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

scales bicolored, linear-subulate, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, centers dark brown to black, thick, margins brown, thin, dentate.

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.

monomorphic, clustered on stem, 8–40 cm;

croziers sparsely villous.

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

dark brown, lustrous, flattened or slightly grooved 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.

linear-oblong, 2-pinnate proximally, 1–4 cm wide;

rachis brown throughout, straight, shallowly grooved adaxially, usually glabrous.

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, 5–20 mm, leathery, glabrous;

margins on fertile segments strongly revolute, covering more than 1/2 abaxial surface, borders greenish, crenate;

apex 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.

strongly ascending, not decurrent on rachis, usually with 5–11 ultimate segments;

costae straight, 5–20 mm, usually shorter 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.

short-stalked, containing 64 spores, intermixed with abundant 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.

= 29.