Tag Archives: Fern
Know Your Natives – Blunt Lobed Woodsia
Blunt Lobed Woodsia (Woodsia obtusa subsp. obutsa*) of the Lady Fern (Woodsiaceae) family is a small to medium size, evergreen fern with thin leaves (fronds). The genus name recognizes Joseph Woods (1776-1864), an English Quaker architect who authored several books … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Ebony Spleenwort
Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron) of the Spleenwort Fern (Aspleniaceae) family is a small to medium size, once-cut, evergreen fern. The genus name is from Greek for “without a spleen” which may indicate that plants of this genus were historically thought … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Northern Maidenhair Fern
Northern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum) of the Brake Fern (Pteridaceae) family, formerly of the Polypody (Polypodiaceae) family, is a beautiful, shade-loving fern with broad, circular fronds. The genus name is from a Greek word for “unwetted” in reference to the … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Lady Fern
Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina*) of the Woodsiaceae (Lady Fern) family is a medium size fern of North America, Europe and Asia. The genus name originates from a Greek word referring to “door” in reference to the hinged indusia (protective spore … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Hairy Lipfern
Hairy lipfern (Cheilanthes lanosa)* of the Brake Fern (Pteridaceae) family, formerly of the Polypody (Polypodiaceae) family, is a small to moderate-sized evergreen fern with delicate fronds. It occurs at higher elevations from Oklahoma to Connecticut, principally in the following physiographic … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Royal Fern
Royal fern (Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis*) of the Royal Fern (Osmundaceae) family is a large herbaceous fern with a crown of clustered spore cases (sporangia) on the fertile fronds (leaves). In the U.S., it occurs from eastern Texas to Minnesota … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Woolly Lip Fern
Woolly lip fern (Cheilanthes tomentosa*) of the Brake Fern (Pteridaceae) family, is an evergreen fern that becomes brown and shriveled during drought but revives with renewed moisture. The genus name combines Greek words for “lip” (cheilos) and “flower” (anthos), in … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Resurrection Fern
Resurrection fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides var. michauxiana), formerly Polypodium polypodioides, of the Polypody (Polypodiaceae) family is an evergreen fern that occasionally appears to die in periods of dryness while being “resurrected” when again moistened. The genus name is from Greek words … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Marginal Wood Fern
Marginal wood fern (Dryopteris marginalis) of the Wood Fern (Dryopteridaceae) family, an evergreen, twice-cut fern, occurs throughout much of the eastern U.S. from Texas and Minnesota to the Atlantic Coast, but is mostly absent from the Gulf Coastal Plain and unknown … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Christmas Fern
Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) of the Wood Fern (Dryopteridaceae) family prefers shady areas of deciduous woodlands and embankments with well drained, moist sandy to rocky soils. Christmas fern is found throughout much of the eastern half of the U.S., westward … Continue reading
