Sword Fern

Polystichum munitum

General: Large (to 1.5 m tall, but smaller in the north), evergreen, with erect leaves forming a crown from a stout, woody, scaly rhizome.

Leaves:  Stipe dry-scaly; blade lance-shaped, erect to arching, once-pinnate; leaflets alternate, pointed, sharp toothed with incurved spine-tips, each with a small lobe pointing forward at the bottom.

Sori: Large, circular, about halfway between the midvein and the margin; indusium round with fringed margins, centrally attached.

Ecology:  Moist forest at low to middle elevations; abundant and widespread from central Vancouver Island and adjacent mainland south, less common north.