Flora of North America species comparison

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Lygodium palmatum

American climbing fern, creeping fern, Hartford fern, Windsor fern
Stems

long-creeping.
Leaves

to ca. 3 m. Petioles borne 1-4 cm apart, 9-15 cm.
Sterile

pinnae on 1-2 cm stalks, very broadly ovate, deeply and palmately 3-7-lobed, 1-4 × 2-6 cm; ultimate lobes triangular-elongate to oblong;

lobe apex acute to blunt or rounded;

segments not articulate to petiolules, not leaving wiry stalks when detached;

blade tissue pubescent abaxially with transparent hairs.
Fertile

pinnae stalked to ca. 1.5 cm, then ± irregularly 3-5-forked or lobed, ultimate divisions palmately and sometimes irregularly lobed, smaller than sterile pinnules, 2-4 × 2-8 cm, otherwise similar; ultimate segments narrowly triangular to linear-triangular.

Lygodium palmatum
Habitat Terrestrial in woods, thickets, and bog margins in humus-rich, acid soils.
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CT; DE; GA; KY; MA; MD; ME; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lygodium palmatum is generally local and rare except for the Cumberland Plateau of Kentucky and Tennessee where it is locally abundant in poorly drained, acidic soils, especially after disturbance (J. M. Shaver 1954; R. Cranfill 1980). Other authors have reported this species from Florida (O. Lakela and R. W. Long 1976), but I have not seen specimens (C. E. Nauman 1987). This species is not tolerant of shading.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2, p. 115.
Parent taxa Lygodiaceae > Lygodium
Sibling taxa
L. japonicum, L. microphyllum
Synonyms Gisopteris palmata
Name authority (Bernhardi) Swartz: Syn. Fil. 154. (1806)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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