Polypodium pectinatum Linnaeus var. caespitosum Jenman, Bull. Bot. Dept., Jamaica, n.s. 4: 125. 1897; P. ptilodon Kunze var. caespitosum (Jenman) A. M. Evans

Stems 5--8 mm diam.; scales blackish, linear-lanceolate. Leaves erect, or arching in large plants. Petiole dark brown, less than 1/10 length of blade, pubescent with both simple and branched, short, multicellular hairs; scales threadlike, linear, scattered, inconspicuous. Blade lanceolate, 25--90 × 6.5--18 cm; base narrowly cuneate; apex acute. Segments lanceolate, 4--8 mm wide, sparsely pubescent, at base of blade reduced to auricles. Veins 2--3-forked. Sori oval, blade pubescence denser and longer around sorus; sporangia with 64 spores. 2 n = 148.

Sporulating all year. Terrestrial, or on logs or tree bases, in hammocks, swamps, and wet woods; 0 m; Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America.