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Cliff Sword Fern
Polystichum imbricans
  
About Cliff Sword Fern (Polystichum imbricans) 0 Nurseries Carry This Plant Polystichum imbricans is a species of fern known by the common names narrowleaf swordfern and imbricate sword fern. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to southern California, where it grows in rocky habitat in coastal and inland mountain ranges and foothills. This fern produces several erect linear or lance-shaped leaves up to 80 centimeters long. Each leaf is made up of many narrow, overlapping, sometimes twisting leaflets each 2 to 4 centimeters long. The leaflets have toothed edges. This fern readily forms hybrids, some of which are fertile and are considered separate species, such as Polystichum californicum, its hybrid with P. dudleyi.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Fern

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 3 likely * ) SHOW ALL
*
Thallophaga taylorata Image
Thallophaga taylorataThallophaga taylorata
*
Diarsia esurialis Image
Diarsia esurialisDiarsia esurialis

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Shade, Part Shade

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
exposed outcrops, banks, slopes, rocky places

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 11.1" - 153.2", Summer Precipitation: 0.21" - 5.58", Coldest Month: 10.8" - 55.2", Hottest Month: 34.1" - 80.6", Humidity: 0.20" - 28.63", Elevation: 15" - 14090"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Imbricate Sword Fern, Narrowleaf Swordfern


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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