Vegetable fern

Hemionitis esculenta Retzius, Observ. Bot. 6: 38. 1791

Stems erect; scales brown, linear-lanceolate, margins dentate. Petiole 30--60 cm. Blade ovate, 2-pinnate to 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, 50--100 × 15--50 cm, base ± narrowed, apex abruptly acuminate. Pinnae 1-pinnate to 1-pinnate-pinnatifid. Pinnules oblong, base ± truncate, ± auriculate, apex acuminate, incised or lobed halfway to costule. Veins pinnate, anastomosing. Sori elongate, single or double, indusiate; indusia vaulted, thin, erose. 2 n = 82.

Moist soil near stream; 0 m; introduced; Fla., La.; se Asia; Africa.

Originally a tropical Eastern Hemisphere species, Diplazium esculentum is introduced in North America. This fern is used as a vegetable in eastern and southeastern Asia.