Polystichum imbricans(D.C.Eaton) D.H.Wagner

narrowleaf swordfern

WFO wfo-0001109269 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Polystichum imbricans, photographed by Drew Meyer
fig. a Drew Meyer, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-05 / obs. 205183483
Polystichum imbricans, photographed by Trevor Van Loon
fig. b Trevor Van Loon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 198426107
Polystichum imbricans, photographed by Shane Johnson
fig. c Shane Johnson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 190786295
Polystichum imbricans, photographed by Justin Paulin
fig. d Justin Paulin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 186831876
Polystichum imbricans, photographed by Braden J. Judson
fig. e Braden J. Judson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 184755297
Polystichum imbricans, photographed by Caleb Catto
fig. f Caleb Catto, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180234115
Polystichum imbricans, photographed by Braden J. Judson
fig. g Braden J. Judson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 179878228
Polystichum imbricans, photographed by nmoorhatch
fig. h nmoorhatch, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 178056665

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 4 botanical countries

Regions where Polystichum imbricans is native: British Columbia, California, Oregon, Washington British ColumbiaCaliforniaOregonWashington
Native distribution of Polystichum imbricans, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
British Columbia BRC NORTHERN AMERICA
California CAL
Oregon ORE
Washington WAS

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 6 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.

  • Aspidium munitum var. imbricans D.C.Eaton
  • Polystichum munitum f. imbricans (D.C.Eaton) Clute ex M.Broun
  • Polystichum munitum subsp. curtum Ewan
  • Polystichum munitum subsp. imbricans (D.C.Eaton) Munz
  • Polystichum munitum var. imbricans (D.C.Eaton) Maxon
  • Polystichum munitum var. nudatum (D.C.Eaton) Gilbert

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.