The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

holly fern, mountain fern, northern holly fern, polystic faux-lonchitis

California sword-fern

Stems

erect to occasionally ascending.

erect or ascending.

Leaves

erect, not arching except at tip, 1–6 dm;

bulblets absent.

monomorphic, arching or erect, 2–8 dm;

bulblets absent.

Petiole

1/10–1/6 of blade, densely scaly;

scales light brown, gradually diminishing in size distally.

1/5–1/3 length of leaf;

scales light brown, abruptly diminishing in size distally, falling off early distally.

Blade

linear, often widest above middle, 1-pinnate, base narrowed.

lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 1-pinnate-pinnatifid, base slightly narrowed.

Pinnae

oblong to lanceolate to falcate, proximal pinnae ± deltate, rarely overlapping, in 1 plane, 0.5–3 cm, base truncate to oblique, acroscopic auricle well developed;

margins serrulate-spiny with teeth spreading;

apex acute, subapical tooth hardly smaller than apical tooth;

microscales dense, on abaxial surface only.

oblong to lanceolate to falcate, shallowly to deeply divided, pinnae overlapping or not, in 1 plane, 2–10 cm;

base oblique, acroscopic auricle lobed;

margins not incised to costae, serrulate-spiny with teeth ascending;

apex acute-attenuate, subapical and apical teeth same size (southern form) or obtuse and cuspidate with subapical teeth smaller than apical teeth (northern form);

microscales filiform, dense abaxially, sparse adaxially.

Indusia

entire or minutely dentate-erose.

ciliate.

Spores

dark brown.

brown.

2n

= 82.

= 164.

Polystichum lonchitis

Polystichum californicum

Habitat In rock crevices or at base of boulders, mostly in boreal and subalpine coniferous forests or alpine regions On forest floor in southern part of range and in rock crevices at cliff bottoms (most commonly andesite) to north
Elevation 0–3200 m (0–10500 ft) 100–850 m (300–2800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MI; MN; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; NF; NS; ON; QC; YT; Greenland
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The hybrid between Polystichum lonchitis and P. acrostichoides (= P. × hagenahii Cody) is discussed under P. acrostichoides. The hybrid with P. braunii (= P. × meyeri Sleep & Reichstein) is discussed under P. braunii. In the Georgian Bay area of Ontario, P. lonchitis hybridizes with Dryopteris goldieana to produce the peculiar × Dryostichum singulare W. H. Wagner (W. H. Wagner Jr., F. S. Wagner et al. 1992).

The spiny spores of P. lonchitis are distinctive and distinguish this from dwarfed forms of other 1-pinnate species.

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

Polystichum californicum is restricted to the Coast Ranges and the Sierra-Cascade axis. It is most abundant in the Coast Range north of San Francisco.

Polystichum californicum is an allopolyploid, the evolutionary roots of which include P. dudleyi as the 2-pinnate ancestor. Morphologic and ecological data indicate P. imbricans is ancestor to the northern forms and P. munitum is ancestor to southern forms, suggesting P. californicum is an amalgam of interfertile tetraploids with polyphyletic origins (D. H. Wagner 1979). Cytological analysis corroborates this (A. D. Callan 1972; W. H. Wagner Jr. 1973), but chloroplast DNA studies have detected only the involvement of P. imbricans in the ancestry of P. californicum (P. S. Soltis et al. 1991).

The more xeric, rock-inhabiting members of the complex (showing the parental influence of P. imbricans) occupy the northern half of the range whereas plants of more mesic habitats are found to the south. Hybrids with both P. dudleyi and P. munitum are found frequently, because these three species are often sympatric (W. H. Wagner 1973). The hybrid with P. dudleyi (a triploid) will key to that species. The hybrid with P. munitum resembles a less-incised form of P. californicum with aborted sporangia. Polystichum californicum × imbricans has been found only once, in Oregon (A. D. Callan 1972). Another hybrid that will key here, based on its overall appearance, is P. munitum × scopulinum. It lacks filiform microscales and also has malformed sporangia. Such a specimen was the basis of the report of Polystichum californicum in eastern Washington (C. L. Hitchcock et al. 1955–1969, vol. 1). The sterile diploid hybrid between P. dudleyi and P. munitum is indistinguishable from P. californicum except for aborted sporangia and chromosome number (W. H. Wagner Jr. 1973).

(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. lemmonii, P. microchlamys, P. munitum, P. scopulinum, P. setigerum
P. acrostichoides, P. aleuticum, P. andersonii, P. braunii, P. dudleyi, P. imbricans, P. kruckebergii, P. kwakiutlii, P. lemmonii, P. lonchitis, P. microchlamys, P. munitum, P. scopulinum, P. setigerum
Synonyms Polypodium lonchitis Aspidium californicum, P. aculeatum var. californicum
Name authority (Linnaeus) Roth: Tent. Fl. Germ. 3(1): 71. (1799) (D. C. Eaton) Diels: in Engler & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 1(4): 191. (1899)
Web links