Senin, 30 Januari 2012

Green in Winter: Marginal Fern

Dryopteris marginalis is a frequent native in the eastern half of North America. Especially common and abundant in the Appalachians, it is one of the most characteristic plants of steep, cool slopes and shaded rock cliffs.

Photographed in LaPorte County, Indiana on January 29, 2012.

It is very well expressed at Turkey Run and Shades State Parks in west-central Indiana, as well as several nature preserves in the vicinity. It is virtually absent from the northern third of the state, with one known exception being a robust population in LaPorte County, on a steep sandy slope above Trail Creek. It occurs at a few sites just to the north in Berrien County, Michigan.

The sori (clusters of tiny sporangia, where spores are produced) occur along the margins of the pinnules (smallest blade divisions), hence the specific epithet marginalis.

Ferns are lovely. Ferns are beautiful. Emma Bickham Pitcher

Nature made ferns for pure leaves, to show what she could do in that line. Henry David Thoreau

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