About Polypodium calirhiza S.A.Whitmore & A.R.Sm.
Polypodium calirhiza is a species of fern belonging to the polypody family. Its common names are nested polypody and habit polypody. It is distributed in California and Oregon in the United States, as well as multiple Mexican states: Colima, Jalisco, Mexico State, Oaxaca, and Veracruz. Each leaf of this fern bears broad, oval-shaped leaflets that end in a dull point. This fern sometimes grows as an epiphyte. Its species name comes from combining the names of Polypodium californicum and Polypodium glycyrrhiza, as this species originated as a hybrid of these two species. It was only formally recognized as a separate species in 1991. In the California Coast Ranges, P. calirhiza grows in a variety of habitats, including California oak woodlands and exposed rocky outcrops. In these oak woodlands, it often occurs in the understory alongside the fern Pellaea andromedifolia and the fungus Tremella mesenterica.
