Polystichum imbricans

Cliff sword fern

Family: Dryopteridaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Cliff sword fern is a California native perennial fern found in rocky montane habitats across northern California mountain ranges at elevations typically ranging from 500 to 2,500 meters. Producing fertile fronds through spring and summer, this fern has dark green, narrow-lanceolate leaves with distinctive dense, overlapping pinnae. Growing with erect to arching fronds 30 to 60 centimeters tall, it develops a robust clumping habit with a short, thick rhizome. Its fronds feature narrow, lance-shaped blades with pinnae that have small, pointed scales at their bases, creating a textured, slightly lustrous appearance. The fern's spore-bearing structures are protected by small, round indusia that are nearly entire to slightly toothed along their margins.

California counties: Plumas, Siskiyou, Trinity, Tuolumne, Shasta, Mariposa, Los Angeles, Nevada, Riverside, San Bernardino, Fresno, Lake, Madera, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Tulare, Del Norte, San Diego, Placer, Sierra, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Butte, Tehama, Yuba, Marin, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, Orange

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.