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Polystichum californicum
Also called California sword fern, California Holly Fern, California Shield Fern
Polystichum californicum is a species of fern known by the common name California sword fern. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it occurs in the coastal mountain ranges and the Cascade Range through the Sierra Nevada. Its habitat includes forest understory and open rocky slopes. This fern produces several arching or erect leaves up to a meter long. Each lance-shaped leaf is made up of many sharp-toothed segments. The undersides bear rounded sori which contain the spores. This fern arose as a hybrid between other Polystichum species and readily forms hybrids of its own.
Christmas fern · Hard shield-fern · Aleutian holly fern · Harsh Shield Fern · Polystichum bonapartii · Braun's hollyfern · Polystichum bulbiferum · Monte Guilarte hollyfern · Madeira Shield-Fern · Dudley's swordfern · Polystichum fallax · Narrowleaf swordfern
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polystichum californicum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
