Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Phanerophlebia umbonata

Phanerophlebia

bellybutton veinfern

Mexican holly fern, phanerophlebia
Habit Plants terrestrial, less commonly on rock.
Stems

short-creeping to erect, stolons absent.
Leaves

30–90 cm.

monomorphic, evergreen.
Petiole

shorter than or ± equaling length of blade, base not swollen;

vascular bundles more than 3, arranged in an arc, ± round in cross section.
Blade

ovate-lanceolate, 1-pinnate, with a ± similar apical pinna, papery.
Pinnae

10–18 pairs, lanceolate, usually falcate, 5–15 cm, base cuneate to ± truncate, apex attenuate;

acroscopic lobe absent.

not articulate to rachis, segment margins serrulate to spinulose;

proximal pinnae largest or nearly so, short-petiolulate, ± equilateral or inequilateral with acroscopic lobe;

costae adaxially grooved, grooves continuous from rachis to costae;

indument of filiform scales on costae and veins abaxially, ± glabrous adaxially.
Veins

free [anastomosing], forked.
Indusia

scarious, convex with darker, raised umbo centrally, persistent and not shriveled at maturity.

Sori

in 2 or more rows between midrib and margin, round;

indusia persistent or caducous [absent].
Spores

brown, with inflated folds or wings.
x

= 41.
2n

= 82.

Phanerophlebia umbonata

Phanerophlebia
Habitat Moist, sheltered canyons and ravines
Elevation 1800–1900 m (5900–6200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; n Mexico
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
North America; Mexico; Central America; n South America; West Indies in Hispaniola
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In the flora Phanerophlebia umbonata is known only from the Chisos Mountains, in Brewster County, Texas.

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

Phanerophlebia has sometimes been included in Cyrtomium, which it resembles superficially. As with that genus, Phanerophlebia might better be considered a subgenus of Polystichum, from which it is poorly differentiated morphologically. Elsewhere, some species have bicolored stem scales, netted venation, and/or lack indusia.

Species 8 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Pinnae, at least some on each plant, with basal, acroscopic lobe; indusia flat to concave centrally, not umbonate, shriveled at maturity.
P. auriculata
1. Pinnae lacking basal, acroscopic lobe; indusia with raised, central umbo, not shriveled at maturity.
P. umbonata
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2. Author: George Yatskievych.
Parent taxa Dryopteridaceae > Phanerophlebia Dryopteridaceae
Sibling taxa
P. auriculata
Subordinate taxa
P. auriculata, P. umbonata
Synonyms Cyrtomium umbonatum
Name authority L. Underwood: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 211. (1899) C. Presl: Tent. Pterid. 84. (1836)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers