Pleopeltis Humboldt & Bonpland ex Willdenow (Polypodiaceae)

Scaly polypods, Shielded-sorus ferns

Etymology pleos, many, and pelte, shield, in reference to the peltate scales covering immature sori
Description Rhizome: creeping, branching, scales concolored to bicolored, lanceolate to ovate-acuminate, not clathrate to strongly clathrate.
Frond: evergreen, monomorphic.
Stipe: jointed at base, green to dark brown or black, flattened to terete, often grooved below and winged above, scaly or not, vascular bundles: 3.
Blade: pinnatifid, broadly ovate to deltate, leathery.
segments linear to oblong, margins entire to serrate, veins free or netted.
Sori: circular to oval, discrete, borne at tips of single veins, in 1-3 rows on either side of midrib, often confined to distal region of leaf, indusium: absent, sporangia: transparent or yellowish.
Distinctive Characteristics pinnatifid, leathery blade, long-creeping rhizome, fronds jointed to the rhizome, and young sori covered by peltate scales. Epiphytic, sometimes on rocks, rarely terrestrial, mostly tropical.
Pleopeltis
Peltate (attached in the center) scales in the detail blow-up are the key character of the genus; these scales have a dark central color at the point of attachment.  from Flora of North America
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