''Tectaria cicutaria'', the button fern, is a 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 ...

in the family

Tectariaceae Tectariaceae is a family of leptosporangiate ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family is placed in the suborder Polypodiineae. Alternatively, it may be treated as the ...

, native to the

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

. It has thin, soft, triangular fronds up to about 3.5 feet in length; blades are once- or twice-pinnate with the final segments pinnately-lobed. The

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

is short and erect.

References

GBIF entry

USDA PLANTS Profile entry
* Phil. Journ. Sci. 2C. 410, 1907. * Thomas H. Everett, ''The New York Botanical Garden illustrated encyclopedia of horticulture'', Taylor & Francis, 1982, pages 3307–3308. . * Prem Khare, "On the morphology and anatomy of ''Tectaria cicutaria'' (L.) Copel.", Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section B, Volume 60, Number 6 / December, 1964. * Proctor, G.R. 1989. Ferns of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 53: 1–389. cicutaria Ferns of the Americas Flora of the Caribbean Flora of the Leeward Islands Flora of the Windward Islands Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polypodiales-stub