Diplaziopsidaceae and Dryopteridaceae

Diplaziopsis pycnocarpa vs Polystichum acrostichoides

These two are not on this page because a keyword tool suggested them. They are here because our own identification model genuinely mistook one for the other, on real photographs, 6 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.

Confused 6x by our model Method published

Side by sidefigs. a and b

Diplaziopsis pycnocarpa, photographed by Elias
fig. a Elias, CC BY 4.0

Diplaziopsis pycnocarpa

narrow-leaved glade fern
Polystichum acrostichoides, photographed by Scott Allen Davis
fig. b Scott Allen Davis, CC BY 4.0

Polystichum acrostichoides

Christmas fern

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Diplaziopsis pycnocarpa Polystichum acrostichoides 6 of 20 (30%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Diplaziopsis pycnocarpa for Polystichum acrostichoides, but not the reverse.

Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.

What actually separates themon the record

Family Diplaziopsidaceae versus Dryopteridaceae. Different families, which is a real separation.
Genus Diplaziopsis versus Polystichum.

What we do not have yet: the diagnostic morphological character that a botanist would key on, from a source we can cite. We are not going to invent one. Until we have it, this page tells you the two are genuinely confusable, how often, and what the taxonomy and the flowering data do and do not settle.

Both recordsfull pages