Common names: kalamoho lau li 'i (small-leaved kalamoho), laukahi, kalamoho (P. & E.)

Indigenous

Latin terni, in threes, +folium, leaf, alluding to the 3-part division of the pinnae.

Plants small, terrestrial. Rhizomes creeping, branching, scales stiff, with thick dark midrib and thin brown margins, roots dark brown to black, along entire rhizome length. Fronds 10-25 x 1.5-2.5 cm. Stipes closely spaced, round at base to grooved distally, shiny, dark purplish brown, glabrous or with scattered, light fibrils at base. Blades 1-pinnate, linear-lanceolate, coriaceous, rigid, gla-brous. Pinnae 4-16 pairs, mostly opposite, well separated, subsessile, 0.3-1.2 cm long, ternately cleft to the base into 3 almost equal narrow segments. Ultimate segments linear, 1-2 mm wide, tips short-pointed, margins strongly revolute with edges in-rolled abaxially. Veins obscure, simple or once forking. Sori marginal. False indusia formed by strongly revolute blade margins, closed until fully mature.

Terrestrial or epipetric fern in exposed, usually dry habitats, 600-3,500 m, has been found on all the major islands but is rare outside of higher, drier areas on East Maui and Hawai'i. Native to North America, Mexico, Central America, and several Pacific islands.

Pellaea ternifolia may be recognized by its distinctive short, nearly sessile, forked pinnae cleft to the base and divided into 3 pinnules, more or less linear fronds, and high-elevation, open, dry habitat.