Blechnum serrulatum
Actes Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 114. 1792.
Stems stout, horizontal and long-creeping, branched, partly erect at tip, rarely climbing tree trunks. Leaves ± monomorphic, widely spaced, erect to arching. Petiole dull yellow or grayish brown or light brown, 10-55 cm, finely scaly proximally. Blade broadly linear to elliptic-lanceolate, 1-pinnate throughout, with conform terminal pinnae, 25-70 × 5-28 cm, base truncate, glabrous. Rachis lacking indument abaxially. Pinnae articulate to rachis except for terminal pinna, subsessile to short-stalked; larger pinnae ± straight, linear to linear-elliptic or linear-lanceolate, 3-15 × 0.5-1.8 cm, fertile pinnae often slightly smaller and contracted; margins serrulate; costae with indument of scales abaxially. 2n = 72.
Habitat: Swamps, marshes, wet prairies, and adjacent moist pine woods or hammocks
Elevation: 0 m
Distribution
Fla., Central America, South America.
Discussion
Plants of Blechnum serrulatum occurring in open sun are often dwarfed and stiffly erect. Those occurring in brackish conditions or perennially flooded areas may become hemiepiphytes.
Selected References
None.