COMMON FERNS OF IVY CREEK Ferns are ancient plants, inconceivably older than any form of floowering plant. Prolific in the Carboniferous Era, some 50 million years ago, much of the coal that is mined today comes from the remains of those ancdient ferns. Their descendants today bear the same distinctive characteristics. In fact some fossil remains are virtually identical with liviing species — the same feathery grace, symmetry of form, and elegance of pattern - that delights contemporary fern enthusiasts. With ferns, familiarity breeds enthusiasm. To learn even a half dozen species is a good way to start one of the most delightful and accessible pursuits in the natural world. Christmas Fern Ebony Spleenwort Polystichum acrostichoides Aspenium platyneuron This handsome evergreen is the Ebony Spleenwort, the smallest largest and most common fern at thisof the slender ferns, fernis found is a surprisealong wooded Ivy Creek and can be found along edges of many trails. Often unnoticed, infertileany trail. slopes Its nature helps to to grow retard in large clumps on otherwise beauty when examined closely. standIts shiny, erect nearly in the black, center rachis of a cluster erosion and rebuild the soil -- and sword like fertile fronds an important ecological role. of sterile basal fronds that lie almost flat on the ChristmasConspicuously decoration, green in winter, ground. Come autumn, the fertile fronds will it was used by settlers as a wither leaving the small basal fronds to bless us with a touch of green in the winter months. thus may be the origin of its common name. Lady Fern Hay-scented Fern Athyrium aspleniodes Dennstaedtia punctilobulia This strikingly beautiful meansThis graceful its found fern’s on mostability trails to grow at fern with its delicate equally well in sun as in shade triangular blade is found most often at Ivy Creek Ivy Creek. It is easy pattern to confuse with along Martin’s Branch. andLady round Fern althoughsori found its on the on the underside of fertile trailing growth leaves,Its J-shaped and clumped sori, found backside of fertile fronds growth distinguish it from the former. distinguish it from the similar In addition, the underside of the Hay-scented Fern, leaflets are lined with tiny hairs also common at Ivy Creek. topped by glands that produce a “hay scent” when crushed. Its slender stalk often, but not always, has a reddish hue, a sure sign that it’s Lady Fern. Rattlesnake Fern Grape Fern Botrychium virginianum Botrychium obiquum , this delicate Arising in spring In the late summer, just as lacy fern is one of many grape BotrychiumRattlesnake obiquumFern withers,, appears to fern varieties. Like all grape ferns, another grape fern, it grows as a single leaf in moist damp woods and shady brooks. In mid-season,, frondcarry usof B.through dissectum the winter with a second fertile frond will appear arisesa welcome from bit the of base color. of Thethe plantfertile, arising from the mid point of the stalk B. virginianum with coiled spore capsules resembling the rattler of a rattlesnake, thus giving it its name. distinguishing it from . Sensitive Fern More ferns found at Ivy Creek Natural Area Onoclea sensibilis Ophioglossum vulgatum Woodsia obtusa Adder’s-tongue Fern Pteridium aquilinum Blunt-lobed woodsia this rather coarse but Phegopteris hexagonoptera Nearly as wide as it is tall, CinnamonBracken fern Fern Osmunda cinnamomea CommonBroad beech polypody fern Polypodium virginianum striking fern is found along Dryopteris intermedia muddy areas, such as the Osmunda claytoniana waterways and other moist, Intermediate woodfern Adrantum pedatum Interrupted Fern Dryopteris marginalis Red Trail by the reservoir and Maidenhair Fern Thelypteris oveboracensis parts of the White Trail. Marginal woodfern Dryopteris spinulosa New York Fern Asplenium rhizophyllum Spores are produced on stalks separate from the Spinulose woodfern green fronds; the fertile pinnae roll up at maturity Walking Fern into bead-like structures, suggesting another com- mon name “Bead Fern.” The name “Sensitive Fern” may stem from its rapid demise at the first frost. Fern Identification One way to begin to learn the common ferns is to familiarize yourself with the termsfrond, describingor blade, is its made basic up structure. of a central rachis pinna stipe orThe may fern not have scales , off of which grow the individual leaflets, called (e). The (lower stalk) may . sori (clusters of spores) However, it is the spore-producing organs, the that are the most characteristic and an important factor in classifying ferns. Fronds that have them are called fertile; those without are called sterile. Sori vary widely in their shape, size, and position. Most ferns bear spores on the backside of the pinnae of fertile fronds. Others, such as the grape ferns, send up a separate fertile frond looking quite different from the sterile frond. .