Kingdom Plantae Order Polypodiales Genus Phegopteris Higher classification Phegopteris | Division Pteridophyta Family Thelypteridaceae Scientific name Phegopteris hexagonoptera Rank Species | |
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Similar Phegopteris, Asplenium platyneuron, Thelypteris noveboracensis, Polystichum acrostichoides, Dryopteris marginalis | ||
Beech fern phegopteris hexagonoptera dryopteris hexagonoptera thelypteris hexagonoptera
Phegopteris hexagonoptera, commonly called the broad beech fern, is a common forest fern in the eastern United States and adjacent Ontario. It grows from a creeping rootstock, sending up individual fronds that more or less clump.
The fronds are broadly triangular. The specific name hexagonoptera refers to the winging of leaf tissue along the rachis between the basal pinnae.
Sori are small, round and naked. This aspect of the plant has caused it in the past to be placed, at first, in the genus Polypodium, then grouped with genus Dryopteris, then with the genus Thelypteris. Genetic analysis has shown the Phegopteris genus to be a sister clade to the rest of the thelypteroid ferns.
Rare hybrids with Phegopteris connectilis are known.
This fern makes an excellent garden plant, gradually filling in a bed.
