Each large leaf has many leaflets that get smaller as they approach the tip of the leaf. In the first top picture (above), to the right, we are looking at the back of part of one leaflet. There is hairy fuzz where the leaflet connects to the leaf stem. Some people call this “hairy armpits” and is a significant identifying feature of Cinnamon Fern. Notice that the leaflets are very deeply cut, almost into leafules (leaflets of leaflets), but not quite. Identification keys include: “hairy armpits”; thin, cinnamon-colored fertile frond; and leaflets of infertile front coming to a point (see last picture below).
