I found this plant growing on the banks of a permanently flooded creek on the outskirts of Nacogdoches, TX (East Texas). I was in a fairly remote area. I've scoured all of my plant field guides for the region but keep coming up empty handed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Scott
Cyrtomium falcatum, Japanese netvein hollyfern? It's supposed to have naturalized in Texas. HTH Chris
Scott, A couple of things would be helpful. If you can't take a photograph of the whole plant, then at least a description would be helpful. Is this a large shrub with a "permanent" woody framework or are the stems herbaceous (non woody). Do the stems wither, or are they shed in the winter? Size often matters, but so does the form of the plant. Does it emerge from the ground as a single stem? Does it branch low down? Are all of the leaves similar? Does the plant have an aroma? It looks to me that we're looking at a portion of a compound leaf. This may be a useful diagnostic feature. You can tell if a leaf is compound by examining the axil (the upper side of where the stems intersect) of the leaf (or leaflet) stem. If you find a bud in the axil, then these are simple leaves (and we're looking at a branch), but if there is no bud, then this is a compound leaf (and we're looking at leaflets). The first rule of botany (according to a teacher of mine) is that there is always a bud in the axil of a leaf. Next, if the plant is not in flower or fruit, look around on the stems or even on the ground to see whether there is evidence of earlier reproductive behaviour. Flowers and fruit are often important diagnostic features, especially for identifying broad groups. For example, plants in the pea family produce the familiar dry fruits known as legumes. As you can see from the discussion threads, people are very keen to help out with identifications, and many times, some of the "experts" can recognize plants from ridiculously small bits, but I think you've stumped everyone with this plant sample.
