Flora of North America species comparison

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Polypodium scouleri

coast, coast polypody, leather fern, leather-leaf fern, leather-leaf polypody, leathery polypody, leathery polypody fern, Scouler's polypody
Stems

conspicuously whitish pruinose, stout, 3–12 mm diam., bland to slightly sweet-tasting;

scales concolored to weakly bicolored, uniformly dark brown or with pale margins and base, lanceolate, symmetric, margins denticulate.
Leaves

to 85 cm.
Petiole

stout, to 3 mm diam.
Blade

ovate-lanceolate, pinnatifid, usually widest just above base, to 27 cm wide, stiff and leathery;

rachis sparsely scaly to glabrescent abaxially, glabrous adaxially;

scales bicolored, ovate-lanceolate, much more than 6 cells wide.
Segments

oblong to linear, usually more than 12 mm wide;

margins entire to crenulate;

apex rounded to rarely broadly acute;

midrib glabrous adaxially.
Sori

crowded against midrib, usually more than 3 mm diam., circular when immature.
Spores

usually less than 52 µm, rugose, surface projections less than 3 µm tall.
Venation

anastomosing, usually forming 1 row of areoles.
Sporangiasters

absent.
2n

= 74, 111.

Polypodium scouleri
Phenology Sporulating late fall–spring.
Habitat Cracks and ledges on cliffs, occasionally epiphytic, on a variety of substrates but preferring volcanic substrates in warmer, drier climates, rarely far from ocean
Elevation 0–500 m (0–1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC; Mexico in Baja California
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The distinctive Polypodium scouleri has occasionally been assigned to the genus Goniophlebium because of its anastomosing venation and conspicuous areoles. Its venation pattern can be quite variable, however, and cannot be used as the sole feature distinguishing P. scouleri from P. californicum. Combining venation characteristics with others provided in the key distinguishes it clearly from its congeners in Polypodium. Some evidence suggests that P. scouleri hybridizes with P. californicum (S. A. Whitmore, unpubl.). I. Manton (1951) reported diploid and triploid cytotypes for P. scouleri, and variation in spore size suggests that the species may also include tetraploid populations.

(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. calirhiza, P. glycyrrhiza, P. hesperium, P. saximontanum, P. sibiricum, P. triseriale, P. virginianum
Name authority Hooker & Greville: Icon. Filic. 1: 56. (1829)
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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