Athyrium filix-femina – lady fern
Common Name
lady fern
Family
Athyriaceae
Scientific Name
Athyrium filix-femina
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
- Wet (W)
Soil Nutrient Regime (SNR)
- Rich (R)
Video link
Hitchcock, C. Leo, and Arthur Cronquist. Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual © 1973. Reprinted with permission of the University of Washington Press.
Photo Gallery
General / Habitat
- delicate, deciduous fern growing in moist forests, swamps and clearings at all elevations.
- Termed “lady fern” due to its fragility and elegant appearance
Key Identifying Characteristics
- Form: fronds clustered, erect and spreading
- Leaves: stipes (stalk below blade) short and scaly at the base, leaf blades diamond-shaped (lancelike but tapered at both ends), 2-3 times pinnately divided
- Sori: elongate and curved, indusium shrivels soon after forming
Lookalikes
- D. expansa (spiny wood fern)
- lady fern is triangular while spiny wood fern is broadly triangular and typically more bare towards leaf base
External References
Sources
Douglas, G.W. et al (Editors). 1998-2002. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Volumes 1 to 8. B.C. Min. Environ., Lands and Parks, and B.C. Min. For., Victoria, B.C.
Pojar, J. and A. MacKinnon. 2014. Plants of Coastal British Columbia Including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. B.C. Ministry of Forestry and Lone Pine Publishing. Vancouver, B.C.