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P. lepidocaulon resources
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All Ferns
  Dryopteridaceae
   Polystichum
     acrostichoides  aculeatum
     andersonii  braunii
     craspedosorum  imbricans
     kruckebergii  lemmonii
     lepidocaulon  lonchitis
     makinoi  munitum
     neolobatum  polyblepharum
     proliferum  retroso-paleaceum
     rigens  scopulinum
     setiferum  setigerum
     tagawanum  tripteron
     tsus-simense  xiphophyllum

 Other Genera
    Adiantum  Arachniodes
    Aspidotis  Asplenium
    Astrolepis  Athyrium
    Blechnum  Cheilanthes
    Cryptogramma  Cyrtomium
    Cystopteris  Dennstaedtia
    Deparia  Diplazium
    Dryopteris  Gymnocarpium
    Lygodium  Matteuccia
    Onoclea  Oreopteris
    Osmunda  Pellaea
    Phegopteris  Pleopeltis
    Polypodium  Pteridium
    Pteris  Pyrrosia
    Thelypteris  Woodsia
    Woodwardia
 
Polystichum lepidocaulon (Hook.) J. Sm.
Etymology Lepidocaulon comes from lepida, graceful or elegant + the Greek kaulon, a stem.
Description Rhizome: erect, short, bearing several fronds in a whorl, scales ovate to lanceolate, often more than 1 cm long, soft-textured, brownish.
Frond: 60 cm high by 15 cm wide, evergreen, monomorphic or weakly dimorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 2:1.
Stipe: grooved, straw-colored, darker at base, curving near its junction with the rachis, densely scaly, vascular bundles: 4 or more, in an arc.
Blade: 1-pinnate, lanceolate, the rachis sometimes extending beyond the blade and rooting, leathery, dull gray-green, smaller and irregularly margined scales on pinnae underneath.
Pinnae: 10 to 12 pair, eared upwards, falcate (curved upwards) to 8 cm x 2 cm; margins entire or dentate ; veins free, forked, or rarely netting.
Sori: round, 1-3 rows at each side of costae, on the sides of veins (unusual in the genus), indusium: peltate, small, shed early, central, sporangia: yellow or brownish to black.
Dimensionality: stipe curved so that the blade is held mainly horizontal.
Culture Habitat: among rocks or in mountain forests, often along seacoast. Distribution: Japan, Korea, eastern China. Hardy to -15°C, USDA Zone 7.
Distinctive Characteristics almost horizontal blade, gray-green or pewter-like color
Synonyms
Aspidium lepidocaulon Hook.
Cyrtomidictyum lepidocaulon (Hook.) Ching
Polystichum lepidocaulon
Polystichum lepidocaulon.  Photo: Hideto Araki, from the site Ferns in Japan, with permission.
Notes
Compare to P. lonchitis, similar, but in addition to the habit noted above, P. lonchitis has shorter pinnae, half the length here or less.
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