''Polypodium virginianum'', commonly known as rock polypody, rock cap fern, or common polypody, is a small

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

species of

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

native to the

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and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It generally grows on rocks and occasionally on tree roots in nature.

Description

''Polypodium virginianum'' is a small

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

with narrow leaves long and wide borne on smooth, scaleless petioles . Leaves are evergreen, oblong and

pinnatifid Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

with acuminate tips. Large, circular sori are prominently featured on the underside of fertile

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

s in late summer and autumn.

Sporangia A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

are intermixed with long brown glandular hairs.

Taxonomy

''Polypodium virginianum'' has several synonyms including: ''P. vinlandicum'' A. Love & D. Love, ''P. vulgare'' L. var. ''americanum'' Hooker, ''P. vulgare'' L. var. ''virginianum'' (L.) D. C. Eaton. It is generally treated as distinct, though some have recommended it is equally well treated as a North American variety of the circumboreal ''

Polypodium vulgare ''Polypodium vulgare'', the common polypody, is an evergreen fern of the family Polypodiaceae. The name is derived from Greek ''poly-'' ("many") and ''pous, podos'' ("foot"). Polypody has traditional uses in cooking for its aroma and sweet t ...

''. This species is an allotetraploid of hybrid origin, the parents being ''

Polypodium appalachianum ''Polypodium appalachianum'' is a fern species native to eastern North America. Sometimes called the Appalachian polypody or Appalachian rockcap fern, it is very similar in appearance to '' Polypodium virginianum''. For years, ''P. virgin ...

'' and '' P. sibiricum''.

Distribution and habitat

''Polypodium virginianum'' typically grows on boulders, cliffs, and rocky slopes and does not need well-developed soil. It is common throughout eastern North America; its native distribution ranges from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

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south to

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, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3007914 virginianum Ferns of the Americas Ferns of the United States Flora of Northern America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus