Phegopteris (C. Presl) Fée (Thelypteridaceae) Earlier placement: Aspleniaceae, Dryopteridaceae

Beech fern

Etymology Greek: phegos, beech + pteris, fern. The original name for Phegopteris connectilis was Polypodium phegopteris, the beech fern.
Description Rhizome: long-creeping, ovate scales.
Frond: deciduous, monomorphic.
Stipe: straw-colored at base, scales tan, lanceolate, below, and pointed hairs on both sides, vascular bundles: 2, crescent-shaped.
Blade: pinate-pinnatifid, triangular to ovate, transparent needlelike hairs and spreading, ovate-lanceolate scales on rachis below.
Pinnae: base fused to rachis, and often connected by wings, costae not grooved, spreading, ovate-lanceolate scales below, veins free, simple or forked.
Sori: round to oblong, beyond the middle to submarginal, indusium: absent, sporangia: tan.
Distinctive Characteristics The broad connection of the pinnae along the rachis (adnate) and winged tissue between adjacent pinnae is distinctive.
Phegopteris blade adnate
Phegopteris. The pinnae attached broadly along the base (adnate) to the rachis and the wings between pinnae are diagnostic.  Illustration from Scandinavian Ferns by Benjamin Øllgaard and Kirsten Tind, Rhodos, 1993.
Valid XHTML 1.0     Reports of errors and omissions appreciated: toms AT hardyfernlibrary.com (please replace the AT with @)