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Summary

Pleopeltis polypodioides, common name resurrection fern, is a species of creeping, coarse-textured fern native to the Americas and Africa.

Description

The evergreen fronds of Pleopeltis polypodioides are 25 cm high by 5 cm wide and monomorphic. The leathery, yellow-green pinnae (leaflets) are deeply pinnatifid, oblong to narrowly lanceolate, usually widest near middle, occasionally at or near base. It attaches to the limbs of its host plant with a branching, creeping, slender rhizome, which grows to 2 mm in diameter. The scales are lanceolate, with light brown base and margins, and having a dark central stripe.

Upper and lower sides of fronds

The gametophytes (the haploid gamete producers) develop from very small spores that float in the air and are deposited on moist tree branches. These spores are produced in sporangia that develop on the leaves of the fern's sporophyte. The fern can also reproduce by the division of its rhizomes.

On the underside of the blades, the sori (reproductive clusters) are round, discrete, and sunken. Their outline can be seen as raised dimples on the upper surface. They are typically near the outer edge, and occur on all but the lowest pinnae of fertile fronds. Indusia are absent. Sporangia are yellow to brown at maturity. Spores are produced from summer to fall.

Distribution and habitat

Sori on the underside of the leaf

Pleopeltis polypodioides resides in the hardwood forests of southeastern United States in areas including Delaware, Maryland, the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Four clades exist: African, South America-Caribbean basin, Central America-Mexico, and North America.

Out of these 4 clades there are 6 major varieties, native to southeastern United States, Mexico, and even Africa.

var. michauxiana var. knoblochianum var. acicularis var. polypodioides var. burchellii var. minus

This fern is an epiphyte, or air plant,...