''Polypodium virginianum'', commonly known as rock polypody, rock cap fern, or common polypody, is a small

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

species of

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

native to the Eastern United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It generally grows on rocks and occasionally on tree roots in nature.

Description

''Polypodium virginianum'' is a small rhizomatous

with narrow leaves long and wide borne on smooth, scaleless petioles . Leaves are evergreen, oblong and

pinnatifid Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common Anatomical terms of location#Axes, axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology (biology), morphology, in Crysta ...

with acuminate tips. Large, circular sori are prominently featured on the underside of fertile fronds in late summer and autumn.

Sporangia A sporangium (; from Late Latin, ) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cy ...

are intermixed with long brown glandular hairs.

Taxonomy

''Polypodium virginianum'' has several synonyms including: ''P. vinlandicum'' A. Love & D. Love, ''P. vulgare'' L. var. ''americanum'' Hooker, ''P. vulgare'' L. var. ''virginianum'' (L.) D. C. Eaton. It is generally treated as distinct, though some have recommended it is equally well treated as a North American variety of the circumboreal '' Polypodium vulgare''. This species is an allotetraploid of hybrid origin, the parents being ''

Polypodium appalachianum ''Polypodium appalachianum'' is a fern species native to eastern North America. Sometimes called the Appalachian polypody or Appalachian rockcap fern, it is very similar in appearance to ''Polypodium virginianum''. For years, ''P. virgini ...

'' and '' P. sibiricum''.

Distribution and habitat

''Polypodium virginianum'' typically grows on boulders, cliffs, and rocky slopes and does not need well-developed soil. It is common throughout eastern North America; its native distribution ranges from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

south to Georgia,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3007914 virginianum Ferns of the Americas Ferns of the United States Flora of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus