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Narrowleaf sword fern
Polystichum imbricans
Polystichum imbricans is a species of fern known by the common names narrowleaf swordfern and imbricate sword fern. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to southern California, where it grows in rocky habitat in coastal and inland mountain ranges and foothills. This fern produces several erect linear or lance-shaped leaves up to 80 centimeters long. Each leaf is made up of many narrow, overlapping, sometimes twisting leaflets each 2 to 4 centimeters...
From the article Polystichum imbricans on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
This fern produces several erect linear or lance-shaped leaves up to 80 centimeters long. Each leaf is made up of many narrow, overlapping, sometimes twisting leaflets each 2 to 4 centimeters long. The leaflets have toothed edges. The round sori occupy two rows on either side of the midrib of each pinna and are covered by a centrally-attached, umbrella-like indusium. It is distinguished from Polystichum munitum primarily by the narrower leaves due to less elongate leaflets, usually with an apiculate tip. This fern readily forms hybrids, some of which are fertile and are considered separate species, such as Polystichum californicum, its hybrid with P. dudleyi.
In human culture
The specific name imbricans refers to the overlapping (imbricate) leaflets, from the Latin imbricatus.
Wikipedia: “Etymology”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Polystichum imbricans in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 58763.