Month: January 2022

in Part 2 we continue with the:

‘TRUE’ or LEPTOSPORANGIATE FERNS

This has 16 families described in Stace, and on the next page, we continue with family 10 to the last family 21, which all grow in the British Isles in various habitats.

I use colour coding for easy reading! Blue background is general interesting info (although I hope you find it all interesting!!). Green is about all the uses except for medicinal uses or if there is a warning in which case I use a pink background. Pictures by Matt Summers & Mike Poulton unless stated.  FBBC is added if the plant in question occurs in the Flora of Birmingham and the Black Country.

I added contents where you can jump to the correct fern family or genus on next page.

See for Part 1 here:

Classification of fern families in Stace:

Contents:

10 DICKSONIACEAE –Tree fern Family

11 DENNSTAEDTIACEAE – Bracken family

Pteridium aquilinum or Bracken FBBC

12 PTERIDACEAE – Ribbon Fern family

• Cryptogramma crispa or Parsley Fern
• Anogramma leptophylla or Jersey Fern
• Adianthum capillus-venerisor Maidenhair Fern
• Pteris vittata and P. cretica or Ribbon Fern

13 CYSTOPTERIDACEAE

Gymnocarpium

• Gymnocarpium dryopteris or Oak Fern FBBC
• G. robertianum or Limestone Fern FBBC

Cystopteris

• Cystopteris fragilis or Brittle Bladder-fern
• C. diaphana or Diaphanous Bladder-fern
• C. alpina or Alpine Bladder-fern
• C. dickieana or Dickie’s Bladder-fern
• C. montana or Mountain Bladder-fern

14 ASPLENIACEAE –Spleenwort family

• Asplenium scolopendrium (Syn. Phyllitis scolopendrium) or Hart’s-tongue Fern FBBC
• A. adiantum-nigrum or Black Spleenwort FBBC
• A. marinum or Sea Spleenwort
• A. trichomanes or Maidenhair Spleenwort FBBC
• A. ruta-muraria or Wall-rue FBBC
• A. ceterach (syn. Ceterach officinarum) or Rustyback FBBC

less common species are:

• Asplenium fontanum or Smooth Rock-spleenwort
• A. obovatum or Lanceolate Spleenwort
• A. onopteris or Irish Spleenwort
• A. trichomanes subsp. pachyrachis or Lobed Maidenhair Spleenwort
• A. septentrionale or Forked Spleenwort
• A. viride or Green Spleenwort

15 THELYPTERIDACEAE – Marsh Fern family

• Thelypteris palustris or Marsh Fern FBBC
• Phegopteris connectilis or Beech Fern
• Oreopteris limbosperma or Lemon-scented Fern FBBC

16 WOODSIACEAE  or Woodsia family

• Woodsia ilvensis or Oblong Woodsia
• W. alpina or Alpine Woodsia

17 ATHYRIACEAE – Lady-ferns and allies

• Athyrium filix-femina or Lady-fern FBBC
• A. distentifolium or Alpine Lady-fern

18 BLECHNACEAE – Hard-fern family

• Blechnum spicant or Hard-fern FBBC
• B. penna-marina or Little Hard-fern
• B. cordatum or Greater Hard-fern

19 ONOCLEACEAE – Ostrich fern family

• Onoclea sensibilis or Sensitive Fern (neophyte) FBBC
• Onoclea (formerly Matteuccia) struthiopteris or Ostrich Fern (neophyte)

19A DAVALLIACEAE (for ornamental Davallia canariensis)

20 DRYOPTERIDACEAE – Buckler-fern family

• Cyrtomium falcatum or House Holly-fern (neophyte)
• C. fortunei or Fortune’s Holly-fern (neophyte)

Polystichum

• Polystichum setiferum or Soft Shield-fern FBBC
• P. aculeatum or Hard Shield-fern FBBC
• P. lonchitis or Holly-fern

Dryopteris or Buckler-ferns

• Dryopteris oreades or Mountain Male-fern
• D. filix-mas or Male-fern FBBC
• D. affinis agg. or Golden-scaled Male-fern FBBC
• D. × ⁠complexa agg (D. affinis agg. × filix-mas) FBBC
• D. cambrensis
• D. remota or Scaly Buckler-fern
• D. aemula or Hay-scented Buckler-fern
• D. submontana or Rigid Buckler-fern
• D. carthusiana or Narrow Buckler-fern FBBC
• D. cristata or Crested Buckler-fern FBBC
• D. dilatata or Broad Buckler-fern FBBC
• D. expansa or Northern Buckler-fern

21 POLYPODIACEAE – Polypody family

• Polypodium vulgare or Polypody FBBC
• P. interjectum or Intermediate Polypody FBBC
• P. cambricum or Southern Polypody

Continue reading “Ferns and all their uses Part 2”

This is part 1 of all those ferns and fern- allies growing on the British Isles as well as many other countries in the temperate or even tropical world!

Ferns flourished before all the flowering plants came on earth and still thrive in many niche areas all over the world.

It is a large and divers group and a short account of their classification follows on the next page. For each group there may be one or two important species which have some story to tell or ethnobotanical use!

Below is a lovely short poem about the Ferns, written for the former students of and by Ian Trueman, Emeritus Professor in Plant Ecology, University of Wolverhampton several years ago.

Ferns

When the green weeds rose from the sea

We, the great-leaved plants, were the last to raise our heads.

But we soon became perfect in the horsetail forests,

When the coal was being made in sun and steam.

And there, quiet under the bristle-leaved trees

We became perfect, as you see us now.

And quiet, and secret, and everlasting

We still unfold our ancient dance

Under the proud stems of our seed-borne sons.

Links are provided from various websites for you to look into each group or plant a bit further. Such as the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora, where you can find out exactly where it grows in the B.I. This time I used copies of prints of ‘The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland’ as well as pictures sourced through Wikipedia Common. Medicinal uses from ‘The Medicinal Flora of Britain and Northwestern Europe’ by Julian Barker. But please note this is an educational blog only and going out harvesting rare plants is not advisable for use as medicine and should be left to a qualified herbalist! Pictures by Matt Summers unless stated.  FBBC is added behind name in the Contents page if the plant in question is mentioned or/and described in the Flora of Birmingham and the Black Country.

You can listen to this radio play by Brett Westwood called Natural Histories: Ferns: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000b80h

General information and classification of Ferns:

The PTERIDOPHYTES or Ferns & Fern-allies have varied habit and leaf structure but are distinctive from the flowering plants in that they do not bare flowers but have spores and spore structures, which are an important identification feature.

The life cycle of the fern has two different stages;

• sporophyte, which releases spores, and
• gametophyte, which releases gametes.

Gametophyte plants are haploid, sporophyte plants diploid. This type of life cycle is called alternation of generations. To follow the life cycle of the fern, begin at number one in the diagram of this link.

Stace divides all the ferns and fern-allies into 4 informal large groups:

• Lycophytes with 1) Lycopodiaceae – Clubmoss family 2) Selaginellaceae -Lesser clubmoss family and 3) Isoetaceae – Quillwort family
• Eusporangiate ferns with 4) Ophioglossaceae- Adder’s tongue family
• Calamophytes with 5) Equisetaceae – Horsetail family AND
• Leptosporangiate ferns or True ferns with 16 families (see with entry there)

Please use the jump-links provided in the Contents to quickly get to the family you want on the next page.

Contents:

The LYCOPHYTES

1 LYCOPODIACEAE – Clubmoss family

Huperzia selago or Fir Clubmoss FBBC

• Lycopodium clavatum or Stag’s-horn Clubmoss
• L. annotinum or Interrupted Clubmoss
• L. lagopus or Hare’s-foot Clubmoss

2 SELAGINELLACEAE – Lesser clubmoss family

• Selaginella selaginoides or Lesser Clubmoss
• S. kraussiana or Krauss’s Clubmoss (neophyte) FBBC

3 ISOETACEAE – Quillwort family

• Isoetes lacustris or (Lake) Quillwort
• I. echinospora or Spring Quillwort
• I. histrix or Land Quillwort

The EUSPORANGIATE FERNS

4 OPHIOGLOSSACEAE – Adder’s-tongue family

• Ophioglossum vulgatum or Adder’s-tongue FBBC
• O. azoricum or Small Adder’s-tongue
• O. lusitanicum or Least Adder’s-tongue

• Botrychium lunaria or Moonwort FBBC
• B. nordicum or Nordic Moonwort

CALAMOPHYTES   or Horsetails

See also here:

https://wonderfulweedweekly.co.uk/the-horsetails/

5 EQUISETACEAE – Horsetail family

• Equisetum arvense or Field Horsetail FBBC
• E. fluviatile or Water Horsetail FBBC
•  E. × ⁠litorale (Equisetum arvense × fluviatile) or Shore Horsetail FBBC
• E. hyemale or Rough Horsetail FBBC
• E. palustre or Marsh Horsetail FBBC
• E. pratense or Shady Horsetail
• E. ramosissimum or Branched Horsetail
• E. sylvaticum or Wood Horsetail FBBC
• E. telmateia or Great Horsetail FBBC
• E. variegatum or Variegated Horsetail
• E. × ⁠trachyodon (Equisetum hyemale × variegatum) or Mackay’s Horsetail

The TRUE FERNS or LEPTOSPORANGIATE FERNS

6 OSMUNDACEAE or Royal Fern family

Osmunda regalis or Royal Fern FBBC

7 HYMENOPHYLLACEAE – Filmy-fern family

• Hymenophyllum tunbrigense or Tunbridge Filmy-fern
• H. wilsonii or Wilson’s Filmy-fern
• Trichomanes speciosum or Killarney Fern

8 MARSILEACEAE – Pillwort family

Pilularia globulifera or Pillwort FBBC

9 SALVINIACEAE – Water fern family

Azolla filiculoides or Water Fern FBBC

9A CYATHEACEAE

Continue reading “Ferns and all their Uses Part 1”