Phlebodium aureum
Phlebodium
golden polypody, goldfoot fern
golden polypody
creeping, ca. 8–15(–30) mm diam., densely scaly;
scales reddish to golden, long-attenuate, 10–20 mm.
creeping, branched, not whitish pruinose, 8–30 mm diam.;
scales concolored, lanceolate, not clathrate, glabrous, margins dentate.
bright green or glaucous, arching to pendent, scattered, 3–13 dm.
monomorphic, widely spaced, not conspicuously narrowed at tip, to 130 cm.
1.5–5 dm, smooth, with a few scales near base.
articulate to stem, dark brown, round in cross section, with 2 adaxial grooves.
pinnately and deeply lobed, 3–8 × 1–5 dm, glabrous, terminal segment conform.
ovate to elliptic, not pectinate, pinnatisect with broadly winged rachises and rounded sinuses, with fewer than 20 pairs of segments, glaucous, usually glabrous, scales absent;
rachis glabrous.
lanceolate to elliptic, or linear-lanceolate to linear, 6–20 × 1–4 cm, margins entire or sometimes undulate.
linear to lanceolate, margins entire, apex rounded.
free near margins, well developed near costae, highly reticulate, usually with 1 row of costal areoles extending from vein to vein without included veinlets, and with a series of elongate, polygonal areoles with 1–3 excurrent included veinlets meeting at apices, and similar areoles closer to margin of segment mostly without included veinlets.
in 1 line on each side of costae, occasionally 2d row present, sori terminal or at junction of free included veinlets.
on veins, transverse, 2 in each major areole on included veinlets, circular to oblong;
indument absent.
tuberculate.
= 37.
= 148.
Phlebodium aureum
Phlebodium
Phlebodium aureum occurs north to Dixie and Nassau counties in Florida, and it is disjunct in Franklin County. It is also found in Georgia (W. H. Duncan 1954; L. H. Snyder Jr. and J. G. Bruce 1986). Two varieties (or subspecies) have been recognized, Phlebodium aureum var. aureum and P. aureum var. areolatum (Humboldt & Bonpland ex Willdenow) Farwell. The latter is now often elevated to species rank and given the name P. pseudoaureum (Cavanilles) Lellinger. Phlebodium pseudoaureum is widespread in Central America and South America (D. B. Lellinger 1987) and has been reported as rare in Florida by G. R. Proctor (1985). I have not seen specimens that could be convincingly referred to P. pseudoaureum.
Phlebodium aureum, a tetraploid species, is believed to have arisen through allopolyploidy following hybridization between P. pseudoaureum and P. decumanum (Willdenow) J. Smith, a widespread species in tropical America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species 2–4 (1 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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