Key to Ferns and Friends

1. LEAVES FERN-LIKE, COMPOUND, 2-4 TIMES PINNATE
2. Sporangium borne in sori on lower surface of leaves
3. Leaves from clustered basal arrangement
4. Leaves fanlike on long, blackish, wiry petioles	Adiantum pedatum
4. Leaves pinnate
5. Leaves evergreen, sori round	Polystichum munitum
5. Leaves deciduous, sori not round
6. Leaves generally less than 25cm (10in) long
7. Sori in cup-shaped indusium	Cystopteris fragilis
7. Sori covering platelike indusium	Woodsia oregana
6. Leaves longer than 25cm (10in)
8. Sori crescent-shaped	Athyrium filix-femina
8. Sori horseshoe-shaped	Dryopteris austriaca Dryopteris filix-mas
3. Leaves not clustered but arising singly from rhizomes
9. Rhizome and leaves hairy, lacking scales	Pteridium aquilinum
9. Rhizome and leaves scaly	Gymnocarpium dryopteris
2. Sporangium not borne in sori, but on erect fertile stalk above sterile blade	Botrychium virginianum
1. LEAVES NOT FERN-LIKE, SIMPLE, IN WHORLS OR PSEUDOWHORLS
10. Aerial, jointed, deciduous stem	Equisetum arvense
10. Prostrate, leafy, evergreen stem	Lycopodium annotinum