Leaves simple, all in rosette, deeply divided ( pinnatifid ), with deltoid-acute lobes, glabrous, oblong in outline, 3.5-10 x 8-2.5 cm.
32.
In addition, the basal pinnae, which may themselves be pinnatifid, lack a stalk, the leaf blade is pointed at the tip but not drawn out at length, and there are generally fewer fronds.
33.
It is a deciduous fern with fronds growing to 40 100 cm ( rarely 130 cm ) tall and 10 30 cm broad; the fronds are bipinnate, with pinnatifid pinnules about three times as long as broad.
34.
Unlike the related Palmer's spleenwort ( " A . palmeri " ), it does not form proliferating buds at the tip; however, the pinnatifid is often deciduous, leaving behind a naked rachis.
35.
Fronds of this species are pinnate-pinnatifid, with pinnate veins; this is unusual for " Moranopteris ", as members of the genus generally have less deeply cut fronds and grow on trees rather than rocks.
36.
This hybrid is intermediate between its parents, bearing lobes in the basal part of the frond only, and with purple color extending up the rachis but not the stipe . " A . ruprechtii ", has narrower blades, deeply pinnatifid in the middle and becoming pinnate at the base.
37.
""'Asplenium pinnatifidum " "', commonly known as the "'lobed spleenwort "'or "'pinnatifid spleenwort "', is a small fern found principally in the Appalachian Mountains and the Shawnee Hills, growing in rock crevices in moderately acid to subacid strata.
38.
The two plants are not only similar in appearance, but also grow in similar habitats, although they may be told apart in the following manner : " P . palustre " has hollow, often purplish stems, pinnatifid leaf lobes and deflexed bracteoles; while " S . carvifolia " has solid, greenish stems, entire or sometimes lobed leaf-lobes and erecto-patent bracteoles.
39.
The similar genus " Argyrochosma " also has farinose leaves, but in that genus the ultimate segments of the leaves have entire margins and * are distinctly stalked, whereas in " Notholaena " the ultimate segments are usually lobed or pinnatifid and segregated from " Notholaena ", and other former members of " Notholaena " are now in the genus " Cheilanthes ".
40.
Likewise, in " A . ?wherryi ", the dark color of the stipe again ends at the base of the leaf blade, the overall shape of the blade tends to be more distinctly lance-shaped, and the fronds are somewhat more deeply cut than " A . bradleyi ", progressing from bipinnate in the lower half to pinnate-pinnatifid and finally pinnate at the apex.
