8 



POLYPODIACEAE 



2. Polypodium hesperium Maxon. 

 Western Polypody. Fig. 14. 



Polypodtvm hesperium Maxon, Proc. Biol. See. Washington 13: 200. 

 1900. 



Rhizome creeping, firm, about 5 mm. thick, densely 

 paleaceous; scales ovate, long-acuminate, 3-5 mm. long, 

 pale to dark castaneous, denticulate. Fronds rather close, 

 ascending, mostly 10-24 cm. long; stipes nearly or quite as 

 long as the blades, stramineous, naked; blades deltoid- 

 oblong to linear-oblong (rarely linear), usually long- 

 acuminate to attenuate, 7-18 cm. long, pinnatihd nearly to 

 the naked rachis ; segments spreading, alternate, narrowly 

 oblong to oval, elliptical, or subspatulate, usually rounded- 

 obtuse, crenate to obscurely crenate-serrulate; veins mostly 

 twice-forked and translucent; sori broadly oval, medial; 

 leaf tissue membrano-herbaceous, light to yellowish green, 

 or subglaucous. 



Cliffs and rock-slopes, chiefly in the Canadian Zone; Yukon to 

 South Dakota, northern New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Cali- 

 fornia (San Bernardino Mountains); also in Lower California (San 

 Pedro Martir). Type locality: Coyote Caiion, Lake Chelan, Wash- 

 ington. 



3. Polypodium glycyrrhiza D. C. Eaton. 

 Licorice Fern. Fig". 15. 



Polypodium vulgare occidentale' Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 258. 1840. 

 Polxpodium faicatnm Kell. Proc. Calif. Acad. 1: 20. 1854, not 



L. f. 1781. 

 Polvpodium glycyrrhiza D. C. Eaton, Am. Journ. Sci. II. 22: 



138. 1856. 

 Polypodium occidentale Maxon, Fern Bull. 12: 102. 1904. 



Rhizome creeping, 3-5 mm. thick, often compressed, 

 deciduously paleaceous ; scales oblong-ovate, long- 

 acuminate, 5-9 mm. long, rusty brown, thin. Fronds 

 mostly distant, 20-70 cm. long ; stipes usually much 

 shorter than the blades, firm, stramineous, naked ; 

 blades usually lanceolate, abruptly attenuate or caudate. 

 15-50 cm. long, 5-17 cm. broad, pinnatisect ; segments 

 thin-herbaceous, alternate, linear-attenuate, tapering 

 from the middle or from the dilatate base, often falcate, 

 unevenly curvescent-serrate ; basal segments distant, 

 shorter, with rounded sinuses ; veins free, oblique- 

 spreading, mostly 3-forked and translucent; sori 

 roundish-oval, inframedial, not extending to the end of 

 the segments. 



On rocks, logs, and mossy tree trunks. Humid Transition 

 Zone; Alaska to San Mateo County, California, mainly near the 

 coast. Type locality: southwestern Oregon. 



4. Polypodium californicum Kaulf. 

 California Polypody. Fig. 16. 



Polypodium californicum Kaulf. Enum. Fil. 102. 1824. 

 Polypodium intermedium Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey 405. 1841. 



Rhizome creeping, 4-10 mm. thick, deciduously pale- 

 aceous ; scales deltoid-ovate, long-acuminate, 3-7 mm. long 

 rusty brown, thin, appressed, imbricate. Fronds ascending, 

 mostly 20-40 cm. long; stipes usually shorter than the blades, 

 stout, stramineous, naked ; blades oblong to deltoid or 

 deltoid-ovate, acutish to acuminate, mostly 15-30 cm. long, 

 7-15 cm. broad, pinnatifid nearly to the rachis ; segments 

 membranous to thin-herbaceous, spreading, oblong-linear, 

 usually obtuse or acutish, mostly decurrent (the lower ones 

 slightly apart, excavate below), unevenly serrate to crenate- 

 serrate ; veins mostly dark, opaque, oblique, 3 to 5 times 

 forked, producing an irregular series of areoles or only 

 casually joined; sori oval, slightly inframedial. 



Rock-crevices or rocky soil. Upper Sonoran and Transition Zones; 

 southern California (common), northward to Butte County, mainly in 

 the coastal region; also in Lower California and on several islands off 

 the California coast. Type locality: California. 



