Polypodium californicum
Polypodium saximontanum
California polypody
Rocky Mountain polypody
dull or inconspicuously glaucous, moderately stout, to 10 mm diam., acrid or bland-tasting;
scales uniformly brown or slightly darker near point of attachment, lanceolate-ovate, symmetric, margins entire to erose.
often whitish pruinose, slender, to 6 mm diam., acrid-tasting;
scales weakly bicolored, lanceolate, contorted distally, bases and margins light brown, sometimes with dark central stripe, margins often coarsely dentate.
to 70 cm.
to 25 cm.
usually slender, to 3 mm diam.
slender, to 1.5 mm diam.
deltate to lanceolate-ovate, pinnatifid, usually widest near base, to 20 cm wide, leathery to herbaceous;
rachis sparsely scaly to glabrescent abaxially, puberulent adaxially;
scales deltate to ovate, usually more than 10 cells wide.
oblong to linear, pinnatifid, usually widest near middle, to 4 cm wide, somewhat leathery;
rachis sparsely scaly to glabrescent abaxially, glabrous adaxially;
scales lanceolate-ovate, usually more than 6 cells wide.
linear-lanceolate to oblong, usually less than 15 mm wide;
margins serrate;
apex widely obtuse to rarely attenuate;
midrib puberulent adaxially.
oblong, less than 12 mm wide;
margins entire to crenulate;
apex rounded to broadly acute;
midrib glabrous adaxially.
midway between margin and midrib or slightly closer to midrib, usually less than 3 mm diam., oval when immature.
midway between margin and midrib to nearly marginal, less than 3 mm diam., circular when immature.
less than 58 µm, verrucose, with surface projections to 3 µm. 2n = 74.
more than 58 µm, tuberculate, surface projections more than 3 µm tall.
weakly to conspicuously anastomosing, most segments containing several areoles, often forming 1 row.
free.
absent.
present, usually less than 40 per sorus, heads with a few glandular hairs or rarely without glands.
= 148.
Polypodium californicum
Polypodium saximontanum
R. M. Lloyd and F. A. Lang (1964) recognized two cytotypes within Polypodium californicum. The tetraploid has proved to be an allopolyploid involving P. californicum and P. glycyrrhiza and is treated here as a separate species, P. calirhiza, following S. A. Whitmore and A. R. Smith (1991). Polypodium californicum can be confused with P. calirhiza, but it usually can be distinguished by blade shape, venation, spore size, and geographic distribution. D. S. Barrington et al. (1986) reported that spores of northern populations of P. californicum can be as large as those of P. calirhiza, but the former species has veins forming more areoles per segment than does the latter.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Polypodium saximontanum is an allotetraploid species whose progenitor diploid species are P. amorphum and P. sibiricum (M. D. Windham 1993). Prior to its recognition as a distinct species, collections of P. saximontanum were variously referred to P. montense F. A. Lang (= P. amorphum), P. hesperium, and/or P. virginianum. In addition to its separate geographic range, P. saximontanum can be distinguished from P. virginianum by having narrower leaves and a reduced frequency of glandular hairs on its sporangiasters. Polypodium saximontanum also has a separate range from P. amorphum and has spores with large (greater than 3 µm tall) projections. Although P. saximontanum overlaps in range with P. hesperium, the latter species has no sporangiasters. Tetraploid hybrids of these two species have misshapen spores.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
