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Tectaria incisa Cav.
Incised Halberd Fern
Not native to Florida
An occasional fern of swamps and wet hammocks that can be found growing either on the ground or on limestone outcrops of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. Native to Puerto Rico and much of the Caribbean, this fern also occurs in Hawaii.
The dull, light green fronds arise from the erect woody stem in a cluster. Blades are pinnate, oblong to ovate in outline, 15-60cm long and 10-50cm wide. Each petiole is pubescent, about as long as the blade and are grooved, as is the rachis, which is short-hairy (puberulent) on the underside. The petiole is dark brown and scaly at the base, pale-brown to yellowish above. The lateral pinnae are mostly linear-oblong with mostly entire but wavy margins. The terminal pinna is deltate and joined with the uppermost lateral pinnae at the rachis. The lowermost pair of pinnae are deeply inscised, appearing at first glance to be separate pinnae. The indusium are attached at the sinus.
Tectaria incisa is a member of the Dryopteridaceae - Wood Fern family.
Other species of the Tectaria genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Tectaria heracleifolia - BROAD HALBERD FERN
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 09, 2024
