Flora of North America species comparison

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Polypodium calirhiza

licorice fern, nested polypody
Stems

rarely whitish to glaucous, moderately stout to slender, to 8 mm diam., acrid- or slightly sweet-tasting;

scales concolored brown or slightly darker near point of attachment, lanceolate-ovate, symmetric, margins entire to erose.
Leaves

to 70 cm.
Petiole

usually slender, to 3 mm diam.
Blade

lanceolate-ovate to oblong, pinnatifid, widest below middle or occasionally at base, to 16 cm wide, leathery to herbaceous;

rachis sparsely scaly to glabrescent abaxially, puberulent adaxially;

scales lanceolate-ovate, usually more than 3 cells wide.
Segments

linear-lanceolate to oblong, usually less than 15 mm wide;

margins conspicuously serrate;

apex obtuse to acute;

midrib puberulent adaxially.
Sori

midway between margin and midrib or slightly closer to midrib, usually less than 4 mm diam., oval when immature.
Spores

more than 58 µm, verrucose, surface projections less than 3 µm.
Venation

weakly to moderately anastomosing, some to many segments lacking areoles.
Sporangiasters

absent.
2n

= 148.

Polypodium calirhiza
Phenology Sporulating winter–summer.
Habitat Cliffs and rocky slopes, sometimes epiphytic, on a variety of substrates but usually on granite or other igneous rocks
Elevation 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Although originally considered a cytotype of Polypodium californicum, P. calirhiza is an allotetraploid involving P. californicum and P. glycyrrhiza (S. A. Whitmore and A. R. Smith 1991) and therefore should be treated as a distinct species. Some individuals of P. calirhiza can be difficult to distinguish from the two parental species (see comments under P. californicum and P. glycyrrhiza); most collections can be identified based on a combination of blade shape, venation pattern, spore size, and geographic distribution. Polypodium calirhiza hybridizes with P. glycyrrhiza to produce sterile triploid plants with misshapen spores.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Polypodiaceae > Polypodium
Sibling taxa
P. amorphum, P. appalachianum, P. californicum, P. glycyrrhiza, P. hesperium, P. saximontanum, P. scouleri, P. sibiricum, P. triseriale, P. virginianum
Synonyms P. intermedium, P. vulgare var. intermedium
Name authority S. A. Whitmore & A. R. Smith: Madroño 38: 235. (1991)
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).



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