Polypodium cambricum

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Polypodium cambricum
Polypode a Capbreton.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Suborder: Polypodiineae
Family: Polypodiaceae
Genus: Polypodium
Species:
P. cambricum
Binomial name
Polypodium cambricum
L.
Frond showing broad base and pointed leaflets Polypodium cambricum 001.jpg
Frond showing broad base and pointed leaflets
Sori under the leaf Polypodium cambricum 002.jpg
Sori under the leaf
Example cultivar, 'Oakley' Polypodium cambricum 'Oakley'.JPG
Example cultivar, 'Oakley'

Polypodium cambricum, the southern polypody, [1] limestone polypody, [2] or Welsh polypody, is a species of fern in the family Polypodiaceae, native to southern and western Europe where it grows on shady rocks, near the coasts of the Mediterranean Basin and in the mountains of Atlantic Europe. It is a spreading, terrestrial, deciduous fern growing to 60 centimetres (24 in) tall, with pinnate fronds. The sori are yellow in winter. [3]

Contents

Description

Perennial. Rhizome elongate, often above ground, densely covered with rusty scales. Fronds distich, 5–30 centimetres (2.0–11.8 in), glabrous, deltoid in outline; petiole yellowish green, shorter than the pinnatipartite limb. Segments 5-28 on each side; margin dentate, marked with a strong midrib. Sori round, 2–4 millimetres (0.079–0.157 in) in diameter, orange-yellow, arranged on each side of the midrib of segments. The fruits bloom from February to July.

Name

This species has been widely known by the more apt name P. australeFée. However, since Linnaeus did mention the species, albeit in the aberrant cambricum-form, that name must have priority.[ citation needed ]

Etymology

Polypodium is derived from the Greek Polus, many, and podion, small foot, since the rhizome bears numerous roots. The specific epithet cambricum means "Welsh", [4] from the Latinized form of Cymru , the Welsh name for Wales.

Australe comes from the Latin auter, the wind of the south, for in Europe, this species grows largely in the Mediterranean Basin. [5]

Cultivation

Two cultivars have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

References

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Hackney, P. (1977). "Polypodium australe Fee in the North of Ireland". The Irish Naturalists' Journal. 19 (4): 104–107. JSTOR   25538081.
  3. RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN   978-1405332965.
  4. Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN   9781845337315.
  5. Roberts, R. H.; Synnott, D. M. (1972). "Polypodium australe Fee in Scotland and North East Ireland" (PDF). Watsonia. 9: 39–41.
  6. "Polypodium cambricum 'Cambricum'". RHS. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  7. "Polypodium cambricum (Cristatum Group) 'Grandiceps Fox'". RHS. Retrieved 18 January 2021.