Classification(6):
- leaf divisions: the leaf blade is three times compound (divided into leaflets, which are further divided into leaflets, which are further divided into leaflets), or more
- Plant growth form: the leaves grow from a rhizome growing at or below the ground
- Spore-bearing leaflets: the spore-bearing fronds are similar in size and shape to the sterile fronds
- Sorus shape: there are no sori, or they are concealed in leaf segments or hardened,capsule-like structures derived from a modified leaflet
- Leaf stalk scales: there are no scales on the leaf stalk
- Leaf stalk hairs: there are no hairs on the leaf stalk
- Leaf blade length: 5–45 cm
- Leaf vein tips: the veins go all the way to the edge of the leaf blade
Fern Parts (1):
- Frond- part of fern we see as the leaf, divided into stipe (leaf stalk) and blade (leafy expanded portion of the frond)
- Rhizome- comparable to stems in flowering plants, can be inconspicuous or entirely underground; contains the conducting tissues (xylem and phloem) -In tree ferns, are 60 cm in diameter and 12 m tall
- Roots- Formed from the rhizome or from the stipe
- Sori- cluster of sporangia
-In some epiphytic ferns and in terrestrial creeping ferns, the rhizome roams widely and is quite visible
Habitat (4):
- Native to California, also found elsewhere in North America and beyond
- Redwood forest, mixed evergreen forest, Chaparral, Yellow Pine Forest, Red Fir Forest, Lodgepole Forest, Subalpine Forest, Douglas-Fir Forest, Wetland-riparian
- Equally likely to appear in wetlands and non-wetlands
- Elevation: 15-3020m