Varieties 6 (1 in the flora): North America, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Africa.

Rhizome 1.3-1.8 mm thick, its scales narrowly subulate, 2-3 mm, numerous, appressed, fimbriate, with a dark median stripe; lvs 6-25 cm, the petiole 1-9 cm, densely appressed-scaly; blades oblong, 2-6 cm wide, acute, the segments 8-20 pairs, broadly linear or linear-spatulate, 2-5 mm wide, entire, apically rounded, green and glabrous above, densely covered beneath with persistent peltate scales; veins obscure, mostly once-forked, some anastomosing; sori in deep excavations near the margin, without intermingled hairs; 2n=74. On rocks and trees, mostly in subacid soil; se. Md. to Fla., w. to Ill., Mo., Okla., and Tex.; tropical Amer. Plants of the U.S. are var. michauxianum Weath.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.