Flora of North America species comparison

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Polystichum setigerum

Alaska holly fern, Alaska sword fern
Stems

erect.
Leaves

arching, 4–10 dm;

bulblets absent.
Petiole

1/8–1/5 length of leaf, densely scaly;

scales light brown, gradually diminishing in size distally.
Blade

lanceolate, deeply 1-pinnate-pinnatifid to 2-pinnate, base narrowed.
Pinnae

lanceolate, not overlapping, in 1 plane, 4–8 cm, base oblique, margins incised to costa on middle pinnae, serrulate-spiny with teeth spreading-ascending, apex acute-apiculate with subapical and apical teeth same size;

microscales filiform, sparse abaxially, confined to costa adaxially.
Indusia

erose-ciliate.
Spores

brown.
2n

= 246.

Polystichum setigerum
Habitat Forest floor in lowland coastal forests
Elevation 0–250 m (0–800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; BC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Polystichum setigerum is disjunct on Attu Island at the western tip of the Aleutian Archipelago. It is presumed to be of hybrid origin, the result of a cross between P. munitum and P. braunii (D. H. Wagner 1979). This hybrid has been produced experimentally (A. Sleep and T. Reichstein 1967) and is reported from British Columbia (see discussion under P. braunii).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa 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. microchlamys, P. munitum, P. scopulinum
Synonyms Nephrodium setigerum, P. braunii subsp. alaskense, P. braunii var. alaskense
Name authority (C. Presl) C. Presl: Tent. Pterid. 83. (1836)
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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