POLYPODIACEAE 



13 



2. POLYPODIUM L. 



Low epiphytic or terrestrial wood-plants. Leaves 

 erect or spreading on horizontal or creeping rootstocks, 

 to which the petioles are jointed: blades simple to 

 several times pinnatifid or pinnate, the segments thin or 

 leathery, entire or toothed. Veins free or only casually 

 anastomosing. Sori orbicular, borne in one row or in 

 several rows on the back of the leaf -blade on either side 

 of the midrib or on the back of the leaf-segment on 

 either side of the midrib. Indusium wanting. There 

 are several hundred species known in this genus, widely 

 distributed in temperate and tropical regions. Two 

 other species grow on the adjacent Everglade Keys. 



1. P. polypodioides (L.) A. Hitchc. Eootstock elon- 

 , slender: leaves scattered along the 



gate, widely creeping, 



rootstock, bright-green, or gray- 

 ish when dry, 0.5-2.5 dm. long; 

 petioles copiously scaly, slen- 

 der; blades lanceolate to ellip- 

 tic, or sometimes elliptic-ovate, 

 as long as the petioles or longer, 

 the segments linear to narrowly 

 elliptic, entire or undulate, spar- 

 ingly scaly above, densely scaly 

 beneath, the scales dark-cen- 

 tered: veins very obscure, fork- 

 ing: sori near the margin, in 

 pocket-like depressions which 

 protrude on the upper side of 

 the leaf, mostly oval, 1.5-2 mm. 

 long. (RESURRECTION-FERN.) 

 Hammocks. Figure 6, re- 

 duced. 



The resurrection-fern has the 

 distinction of being the most 

 abundant and common of the 



