About Phegopteris hexagonoptera (Michx.) Fée
Phegopteris hexagonoptera (Michx.) Fée, commonly known as the broad beech fern, is a common herbaceous perennial forest fern native to the eastern United States and adjacent Ontario. It grows from a creeping rootstock, producing individual fronds that form loose clumps. Its native habitat is moist, undisturbed hardwood forests. The fronds of this fern are broadly triangular. Its specific epithet hexagonoptera, which means "six-sided wing" in Latin, refers to the wings of leaf tissue that run along the rachis between the basal pinnae. The sori of this species are small, round, and lack indusia (naked). This characteristic led to historical reclassification of the species: it was first placed in the genus Polypodium, then later grouped into the genus Dryopteris, followed by placement in the genus Thelypteris. Modern genetic analysis has confirmed that the genus Phegopteris is a sister clade to all other thelypteroid ferns. Broad beech fern is an excellent garden plant that gradually spreads to fill in a garden bed.
