Longleaf Brake (Pteris longifolia L.)

POWO merges Bahama brake (Pteris bahamensis) with this taxon and does not even recognize any sub-taxa, but most other authorities treat them separately. We reject this merge, on the grounds that this species is tetraploid and that one is diploid, and thus they do not frequently hybridize, although they are closely related and can when the polyploidy of an individual switches; this scenario mirrors the different species of birch (Betula sp.)