Broad halberd fern

Aspidium heracleifolium Willdenow, Sp. Pl. 5(1): 217. 1810

Stems erect, compact. Petiole straw-colored or rarely brown, 1--2 times length of blade, glabrous on both surfaces, base scaly; scales linear to lanceolate, 3--10 × 0.5--2 mm. Blade ovate to pentagonal, 1-pinnate or (in small plants) ternately lobed, (12--)20--40(--50) × 14--40(--45) cm. Rachis and costae glabrous abaxially. Pinnae 1--2(--3) pairs, 12--22 cm, base cordate, margins shallowly lobed, with pair of basal lobes and without proliferous buds in axils. Areoles with included veinlets. Indusia peltate. 2 n = 160.

Rocky hammocks, limestone outcrops in shade, cave entrances; 0--100 m; Fla., Tex.; Mexico; West Indies in Antilles; Central America; South America to Peru.