POLYPODIACEAE. 3 



Polypodium scouleri Hook. & Grev. Leather-leaf Polypody. Rootstock 

 stout, scaly, not licorice-flavored; leaves large, fleshy, 6-30 cm. long, 5-15 cm. 

 wide; divisions obtuse, the lower ones largest. 



On trees and rocks along the ocean coast, Vancouver Island to California. 



Polypodium occidentale (Hook.) Maxon. (P. falcatum Kellogg.) Licorice- 

 root Fern. Leaf-stalks pale green, 10-20 cm. long; blades thin, 20-40 cm. 

 long, 8-12 cm. wide, divided to the midrib; divisions lanceolate, broadest at 

 the base, sharply serrate, attenuate-acuminate; veins mostly 4-branched. 



Common in moss on rocks, logs and trees, Alaska to California. The 

 rootstocks taste much like licorice, and are eaten by children. Occasionally 

 the divisions of the leaf are deeply cleft. 



Porypodium hesperium Maxon. Leaves small, 5-15 cm. long, including 

 the stalk; divisions few, short and obtuse. 



In crevices of rocks, especially in the mountains. British Columbia to 

 Montana and Arizona. The rootstocks taste like licorice. 



3. PHEGOPTERIS. BEECH FERN. 



Medium sized or small ferns; leaves twice to thrice pinnate or 

 ternate; leaf-stalk continuous with the rootstock; fruit dots 

 small, round, without an indusium, borne on the backs of the 

 veins below or near their ends ; veins free or reticulate. 



United by some botanists with Dryopteris. 



Plant densely tufted; leaves oblong-lanceolate, tripinnatifid. P. alpestris. 

 Plant spreading by rootstocks; leaves triangular. 



Leaves bipinnatifid; rachis winged. P. phegopteris. 



Leaves ternate, the stalked divisions pinnate or bipinnate; 



rachis wingless. P. dryopteris. 



Phegopteris alpestris (Hoppe) Mett. In crown-like tufts; rootstock 

 short, stout; leaf-stalks 10-25 cm. long, bearing a few brown scales; blades 

 oblong-lanceolate, 30-60 cm. long, tripinnatifid; ultimate divisions ovate- 

 lanceolate, doubly incised and toothed. 



Common in rock talus in the mountains at 1500 -2000 m. elevation. British 

 Columbia to Montana and California. Eurasia. 



Phegopteris phegopteris (L.) Keyserling. Rootstocks creeping; leaf-stalks 

 15-20 cm. long; blades triangular, longer than broad, 10-20 cm. long, pubes- 

 cent on the veins beneath; divisions lanceolate, pinnately parted into many 

 oblong obtuse lobes or segments. 



Alaska to Greenland, south to Washington, Iowa and Virginia. Rare in 

 our limits. Monte Cristo, Misses Coffin & Goodspeed. Gorge of the 

 Columbia River, Skamania County, Suksdorf. 



Phegopteris dryopteris (L.) Fee. Rootstock slender, horizontally creeping; 

 petioles 15-25 cm. tall, pale straw-colored, shiny, bearing a few brownish 

 scales toward the base; blades broadly triangular in outline, 10-20 cm. wide, 

 ternate, the lateral primary divisions bipinnate, the terminal usually tripinnate, 

 all naked at the base; pinnae oblong, 2-5 cm. long, glabrous, pinnately-cleft 

 or divided into 15-25 obtuse lobes; fruit dots near the margin, on the ends of 

 free veins. 



In woods, especially at 400-1000 m. elevation, but occasionally near sea 

 level. Alaska to Oregon; widely distributed in the northern hemisphere. 



