Gymnocarpium dropteris - (image 1 of 3)
Taxonomy
Family: Dryopteridaceae
Habitat
Rocky woods, swamps. Talus slopes in rich, usually moist, sub-acid soil. Also epipetric on cliffs. Prefers cool, damp and shaded conditions
Associates
.
Distribution
Most of the northern tier of the US and part of the southwest.
Morphology
Deciduous, growing from thin, long-creeping black rhizomes. Leaves triangular, in three distinct parts, almost horizontal, lowest pair of leaflets taper abruptly. Stalks fine, smooth, and longer than the leaves. Leaves produced throughout the summer.
Notes
Flowers NA
Wetland indicator: Upland, Facultative upland
Like a small bracken fern. Can be cultivated in rich soil in partial sun. Gymnocarpus differs from the genus Dryopteris in its small, delicate, tripartite laminae with long-stalked basal pinnae.
|
Michael Hough © 2005 |