Flora of North America species comparison

compact, erect to ascending, with cluster of persistent petiole bases of ± equal length;

scales uniformly brown, lanceolate.

3.5–15 × 0.5–1.2 cm.

green or straw-colored throughout, articulate above base at swollen node, somewhat pliable and resistant to shattering.

linear to linear-lanceolate, pinnate-pinnatifid proximally, glabrous or with occasional sessile glands, never viscid;

rachis glabrous.

of narrow hairlike segments, these uniseriate throughout, composed of cells many times longer than wide, usually surpassing mature sporangia.

averaging 39–45 µm. 2n = 78.

pinnae fan-shaped, wider than long;

distal pinnae ovate-lanceolate, longer than wide, abruptly tapered to a rounded or broadly acute apex;

largest pinnae with 1–3 pairs of pinnules, abaxial and adaxial surfaces glabrous.

entire or broadly crenate;

margins nonlustrous, thin, lacking cilia or translucent projections.

tips slightly (if at all) enlarged, barely visible adaxially.