Phlebodium aureum(L.) J.Sm.

golden polypody

WFO wfo-0001109224 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Phlebodium aureum, photographed by Lexi Amico
fig. a Lexi Amico, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-29 / obs. 205231305
Phlebodium aureum, photographed by Lexi Amico
fig. b Lexi Amico, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203976131
Phlebodium aureum, photographed by David Garza
fig. c David Garza, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199725425
Phlebodium aureum, photographed by David Garza
fig. d David Garza, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197655826
Phlebodium aureum, photographed by Leila Dasher
fig. e Leila Dasher, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196674183
Phlebodium aureum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. f Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195178239
Phlebodium aureum, photographed by Theo Summer
fig. g Theo Summer, CC0 1.0 / obs. 192286418
Phlebodium aureum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. h Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 191790930

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 25 botanical countries

Regions where Phlebodium aureum is native: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Argentina Northeast, Bahamas, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Central American Pacific Is., Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. AlabamaFloridaGeorgiaArgentina NortheastBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralCentral American Pacific Is.ColombiaCubaDominican RepublicFrench GuianaGuyanaHaitiJamaicaPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela BahamasLeeward Is.Netherlands AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Phlebodium aureum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bahamas BAH
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Central American Pacific Is. CPI
Colombia CLM
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
French Guiana FRG
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Netherlands Antilles NLA
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 17 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Chrysopteris aurea (L.) Link
  • Chrysopteris grandis Fée
  • Chrysopteris martinicensis Fée
  • Chrysopteris microdictya Fée
  • Chrysopteris pulvinata Link
  • Phlebodium aureum var. pulvinatum Farw.
  • Phlebodium grande T.Moore
  • Phlebodium microdictyum T.Moore
  • Phlebodium pulvinatum J.Sm.
  • Pleopeltis aurea (L.) C.Presl
  • Polypodium attenuatum Kuntze ex Ettingsh.
  • Polypodium auratum Vell.
  • Polypodium aureum L.
  • Polypodium aureum var. leucatomos Krug
  • Polypodium aureum var. pulvinatum (Link) Baker
  • Polypodium leucatomos Poir.
  • Polypodium pulvinatum Link

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.