Contemporary Circumscription Compared with A Utah Flora 4th ed.

Bio430

Polypodiaceae

A Utah Flora treats all terrestrial ferns in Utah in this family, which other floras have also done in the past. Though somewhat challenging to distinguish, comparative DNA sequencing supports the recognition of many families within the leptosporangiate fern clade. In Utah, leptosporangiate diversity falls into six families. Only the genus Polypodium, in Utah, belongs in the modern, more narrowly defined Polypodiaceae.

Key Features

Polypodiaceae are mostly epiphytic, but those in Utah are terrestrial.  They have naked sori, the leptosporangia have a well defined annulus, and the leaves often break clean at a defined point near the base of the rachis. Worldwide, there are about 56 genera and 1200 species. .