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Premise of research. Epiphytes are prominent in many tropical floras; however, the evolution of epiphytism, especially among ferns, remains poorly understood. Transitions in habit have been proposed as evolutionary stepping stones in the radiation of ferns in the epiphytic niche, with hemiepiphytes playing an important role. However, few examples of hemiepiphytism have been conclusively documented in ferns, and evidence for this transition is limited. Because of this lack of information, the relationship between hemiepiphytism and epiphytism remains unclear. We fill this gap with new observations and analysis of habit evolution in the Polypodiaceae.

Methodology. We document primary hemiepiphytism in Colysis ampla from field observations of both gametophytes and sporophytes, and we examine its sporophyte anatomy in relation to its growth habit. Using cpDNA sequence data, we place the species within …