Family |
Polypodiaceae
Polypodium cambricum
L.
Polypodium cambricum L.
(First published in Species Plantarum: 1085; 1753. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, 1966, under ≡ Polypodium vulgare L. subsp. serratum (Willd.) Christ)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial fern with a long creeping, scaly rhizome; fronds spaced, erect to arching, 5–50 cm long; winter-green, typically drying out during summer in Mediterranean conditions.
• Fronds: Petiole shorter than or equalling the blade, glabrous except at base. Lamina ovate-lanceolate to somewhat deltoid, pinnatifid; segments 5–28 pairs, linear-lanceolate, distinctly serrulate. Lower surface sometimes glaucous (var. glaucum). Sori round, naked, yellow to orange, arranged in two rows along the veins.
• Reproductive structures: Sori without indusium; spores produced mainly in winter to spring.
• Phenology: Fertile from winter to spring.
• Habitat & elevation: Shaded, humid rock faces, ravines, and mossy banks, on both calcareous and siliceous substrates; from sea level to lower montane zones.
• Lebanese distribution: Damour, Aïn Cheikh, Nahr el-Kalb, Nahr Beyrouth, Beit Méri, Bikfaya, Ghosta, Ghazir; var. glaucum recorded from Broummana and Aramoun.
• Syrian distribution: Northern coastal region, especially Bassit and Kızıl Dağ (Latakia area).
• Native range: Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Belgium, Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., France, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye
• Introduced into: California
• Diagnostic remarks: Distinguished from Polypodium vulgare s.str. by its broader, often deltoid fronds, more clearly serrulate segments, and Mediterranean phenology with summer dormancy; Levantine plants consistently match the southern P. cambricum complex rather than the typical temperate form.