Pteridophytes (Spore Producing Plants: Ferns and More) • Earth.com

Leathery Polypody

(Polypodium scouleri)

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Description

Polypodium scouleri-is a species of-fern-known by the common names-leathery polypody,-Scouler's polypody,-coast polypody-and-leather-leaf fern. It is native to coastal western North America from-British Columbia-to-Guadalupe Island-off-Baja California. It is a plant of the coastline, growing in cracks on coastal bluffs, in oceanside forests, beach-dunes, and similar habitat. It is often affected by heavy-fogs-and-sea spray. This-polypody-anchors with a waxy, scaly-rhizome. It produces triangular or oblong leaves up to 85 centimeters in maximum length and 27 in width. Each leaf is made up of many round-tipped linear or oblong segments which are usually stiff and leathery in texture and edged with shallow, rounded teeth. The underside of each leaf segment is crowded with rounded-sori-each up to half a centimeter wide. The sori contain the-spores.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Pteridophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order:Polypodiales
Family:Polypodiaceae
Genus:Polypodium
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