Flora of North America species comparison

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Polystichum lemmonii

Polystichum kruckebergii

Lemmon's holly fern, Lemmon's sword fern, Shasta fern, Shasta sword fern

holly fern, Kruckeberg's holly fern, Kruckeberg's sword fern, Kruckeberg's sword fern fern
Stems

decumbent to ascending.

ascending.
Leaves

erect, 1–3.5 dm;

bulblets absent.

erect, 1–2.5 dm;

bulblets absent.
Petiole

1/5–1/4 length of leaf, sparsely scaly;

scales pale tan, abruptly diminishing in size distally.

1/10–1/5 length of leaf, sparsely scaly;

scales light brown, gradually diminishing in size distally.
Blade

narrowly lanceolate, 2-pinnate, scarcely narrowed at base.

linear, 1-pinnate-pinnatifid, base narrowed.
Pinnae

ovate, overlapping, folded inward and twisted horizontally, 0.5–2 cm;

base truncate to oblique, proximal acroscopic pinnules not enlarged;

apex broadly acute;

microscales narrowly lanceolate, with few projections, sparse, ± confined to costa of both surfaces.

rhombic-ovate to short-falcate, proximal pinnae ± triangular;

pinnae overlapping, twisted somewhat out of plane of blade, 0.5–1.5 cm;

base oblique, acroscopic auricle well developed;

margins shallowly incised to merely dentate or serrulate, teeth spreading and spiny at tip;

apex acute with subapical and apical teeth same size;

microscales lanceolate with few projections, confined to costa, on abaxial surface only.
Indusia

entire or minutely dentate-erose.

entire.
Spores

dark brown to blackish.

dark brown.
Pinnules

± stalked, rounded, acroscopic auricle not well developed, margins entire to weakly dentate, apex rounded.

2n

= 82.

= 164.

Polystichum lemmonii

Polystichum kruckebergii
Habitat On rocky serpentine slopes Rocks and cliffs in subalpine to alpine habitats
Elevation 1200–2400 m (3900–7900 ft) 1500–3200 m (4900–10500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Polystichum lemmonii forms sterile hybrids with P. scopulinum and P. munitum. The first hybrid may be abundant where the two parents grow together, which they frequently do in the Wenatchee Mountains of Washington and Siskiyou Mountains of northern California and southwest Oregon. The hybrid is very similar to P. lemmonii but has malformed sporangia and slightly less divided pinnae than P. lemmonii. The P. lemmonii × P. munitum hybrid is morphologically indistinguishable from P. scopulinum; it is a sterile diploid reported only twice from the Wenatchee Mountains of Washington (W. H. Wagner Jr. 1973; P. S. Soltis et al. 1989). It is possible that this hybrid involves P. imbricans and not P. munitum; neither study distinguished between them.

American authors have misapplied the name Polystichum mohrioides (Bory) C. Presl, a South American species, to P. lemmonii.

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

Polystichum kruckebergii is widely but sporadically distributed in small numbers in both the Sierra-Cascade and Rocky Mountain systems. Populations sometimes consist of only two or three dwarfed plants that are difficult to distinguish from P. scopulinum, with which they may occur. The spreading teeth of equal size at the pinna apex will usually distinguish this species. Polystichum kruckebergii is a tetraploid presumed to be of hybrid origin, with P. lonchitis and P. lemmonii as its diploid progenitors (W. H. Wagner Jr. 1973), although this hypothesis has not been confirmed. The hybrid with P. munitum has been found in Washington (P. S. Soltis et al. 1987) with both parents, and it is distinguished by intermediate morphology and abortive sporangia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Dryopteridaceae > Polystichum Dryopteridaceae > Polystichum
Sibling taxa
P. acrostichoides, P. aleuticum, P. andersonii, P. braunii, P. californicum, P. dudleyi, P. imbricans, P. kruckebergii, P. kwakiutlii, P. lonchitis, P. microchlamys, P. munitum, P. scopulinum, P. setigerum
P. acrostichoides, P. aleuticum, P. andersonii, P. braunii, P. californicum, P. dudleyi, P. imbricans, P. kwakiutlii, P. lemmonii, P. lonchitis, P. microchlamys, P. munitum, P. scopulinum, P. setigerum
Synonyms P. mohrioides var. lemmonii
Name authority L. Underwood: Native Ferns ed. 6 116. (1900) W. H. Wagner: Amer. Fern J. 56: 4. (1966)
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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