Pyrrosia hastata or polydactyla, that is the question...

A group with the Hardy Fern Foundation stopped by my garden recently, it was a wonderful experience—they were friendly and knowledgeable plant people who asked great questions. Not all garden visitors leave me feeling so warm and fuzzy—but that's a subject for another day. 

One of the HFF visitors commented on my Pyrrosia collection, honestly I'm not sure if the tone I heard in his voice was awe, or horror. I laughingly replied that I was aiming to be the National Collection holder, but of course we don't have National Collections in the United States, that's a UK thing (if you're curious there's no National Collection of Pyrrosia in the UK, they do however have two holders of that title for Agaves; Mr G Bowman and Ian Scott).

So don't worry, I'm not sharing my entire Pyrrosia collection today, but focusing on two species that are having a bit of an identity crisis; Pyrrosia hastata and Pyrrosia polydactyla. This is my first ever Pyrrosia hastata purchase, bought from Xera Plants back in 2013...

I did a little Google search to come up with that date and was surprised to see what the plant looked like back then, not only for its small size but for how differently the leaves/fronds were shaped (blog archives come in so handy!).

They've aged to have much longer lobes. 

As I've become more knowledgeable about Pyrrosia I've learned they can handle some sun, as you can see with this patch of Pyrrosia hastata (also from Xera Plants. but purchased more recently, maybe 2020).

So what's that identity issue I mentioned? Well it turns out plants sold as Pyrrosia hastata may actually be Pyrrosia polydactyla.

I first became aware of this issue when I saw Pyrrosia polydactyla 'MONTRCT' from Monrovia/Dan Hinkley on offer at Lowes. It looked like P. hastata to my eyes. I was confused.

I've got three different Pyrrosia in this stock tank planter...

Including my first ever purchase of Pyrrosia polydactyla from Secret Garden Growers, in 2019.

Here's a Pyrrosia hastata I adopted from a gardener who was downsizing, back in 2023...

Since he kept great records and passed them on to me I can say this plant also came from Xera Plants.

Interesting, eh?

Another Pyrrosia polydactyla purchased from Secret Garden Growers...

Close-up...

Earlier this summer I finally acquired one of the Monrovia/Dan Hinkley plants, Pyrrosia polydactyla 'MONTRCT'. It's still small but to my eye it's showing characteristics of both Pyrrosia hastata and polydactyla, as I know them.

By the way... this seems like a good time to remind you that I am not an expert. I know what I purchased these plants named as, that is, what the labels said. But beyond that I've not a clue. 

I think the first time I heard there might be issues with these two species was when I read the blog post Middle Finger Fern from Juniper Level Botanic Garden: "Pyrrosia polydactyla ‘Middle Finger’ is an excellent clone of the Taiwanese native five-fingered tongue fern with an exceptionally long middle pinnae. Quite a few nurseries, especially in the Pacific Northwest, offer this as another clumping, but uniquely different species, Pyrrosia hastata." 

I'd always thought of P. hastata as having three fingers, not five, something written about in another JLBG blog post, Counting Fingers. Confused yet? Ya, me too. A close-up of my Pyrrosia polydactyla 'MONTRCT'.

There are several Pyrrosia in this grouping...

Including another Pyrrosia polydactyla, also from Secret Garden Growers.

Such a thin narrow blade...

So different from the plants I know as Pyrrosia hastata...

This another adopted Pyrrosia from the same downsizing gardener I named earlier, 

It came to me labeled as Pyrrosia polydactyla 'Taipingshan' (Taipingshan Five-fingered Tongue Fern) from Plant Delights Nursery.

Finally, a Pyrrosia I myself purchased from Plant Delights, Pyrrosia hastata 'Storm Watch'.

It has those great black markings at the base of some of the leaves/fronds.

This post wasn't done with the intent of clearing up any Pyrrosia mysteries, I just wanted to share my plants and their names. I love them no matter what they're called.

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