Flora of North America species comparison

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

Polystichum microchlamys

Polystichum lonchitis

attu hollyfern

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

erect.

erect to occasionally ascending.
Leaves

arching, 3–8 dm;

bulblets absent.

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

bulblets absent.
Petiole

1/8–1/4 length of leaf, densely scaly;

scales brown, diminishing in size distally.

1/10–1/6 of blade, densely scaly;

scales light brown, gradually diminishing in size distally.
Blade

broadly lanceolate, 1-pinnate-pinnatifid, base slightly narrowed.

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

narrowly lanceolate, not overlapping, in 1 plane, 3–13 cm;

base oblique, proximal acroscopic segments enlarged;

margins incised to costa but segments sessile and adnate to costa for at least 2 mm, segments excised and decurrent, serrulate-spiny with teeth spreading to ascending;

apex acute with subapical and apical teeth same size;

microscales filiform, dense abaxially, sparse adaxially.

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.
Indusia

erose-dentate.

entire or minutely dentate-erose.
Spore(s)

color unknown.

dark brown.
2n

= 82.

Polystichum microchlamys

Polystichum lonchitis
Habitat Terrestrial In rock crevices or at base of boulders, mostly in boreal and subalpine coniferous forests or alpine regions
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft) 0–3200 m (0–10500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; Asia in Kamtchatka and Japan
[BONAP county map]
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]
Discussion

Polystichum microchlamys is found in the flora only on Attu, at the western tip of the Aleutian Archipelago.

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

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.)
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. lonchitis, P. munitum, P. scopulinum, P. setigerum
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
Synonyms Aspidium microchlamys Polypodium lonchitis
Name authority (H. Christ) Matsumura: Index Pl. Jap. 1: 343. (1904) (Linnaeus) Roth: Tent. Fl. Germ. 3(1): 71. (1799)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers