I'm posting things I'm trying to learn, so if I have this wrong, please let me know. This seems to be Deer Fern, Struthiopteris spicant, growing in front of an apartment building in my neighbourhood. These photos show the sterile fronds, with the pinnae close together, and fertile fronds, with the pinnae spaced out at least 1 cm apart. The stipes and rachis are almost black. This used to be called Blechnum spicant.
Hard Fern on this side of the Atlantic. Not sure if there's any infraspecific distinction between European and N American plants; yours looks perhaps more erect and jumbled - over here, the sterile fronds typically lie fairly flat, with only the spore-bearing fronds erect.
Thanks, Michael. Wikipedia: Struthiopteris spicant - Wikipedia, gives both as common names. I have never heard anyone say "Hard Fern", so just used the name I knew in the title.
Looked up a bit; what's really odd is the distribution – Europe (& adjacent NW Africa), and western North America. There are some other species of Struthiopteris in eastern Asia though. Makes me suspect that one day genetic analysis will show that the European and N American popualtions should be split as separate species. Equisetum telmateia has a somewhat similar distribution; with this, the western N American population is treated as a separate subspecies.
E-Flora BC still lists it as Blechnum spicant with Struthiopteris spicant given as a synonym or alternate name.
Ed Alverson went with Struthiopteris spicant (L.) Weiss. for the Second Edition of Hitchcock & Cronquist, Flora of the Pacific Northwest (2018, University of Washington).
Yes; the old genus Blechnum proved to be polyphyletic when its genetics were examined. See: Molecular phylogeny of the fern family Blechnaceae (Polypodiales) with a revised genus‐level treatment and (PDF) A classification for Blechnaceae (Polypodiales: Polypodiopsida): New genera, resurrected names, and combinations
It's the struth. I've seen giant plants that are twice the size of normal ones in northern California, and thought they might be polyploid, but they seemed to be within the scope of species description.
A video from UBC Faculty of Forestry on this just came up on my facebook and instagram feeds, using the name Blechnum spicant. I'm not making a point about the name, just linking to a video that gives what seems to be a clear way to distinguish this from sword ferns.
——— I am so glad you posted this informative video For one- I thought the curled over leaves on my own deer ferns meant dehydrated or dying (approx 1:27 in video) How do we see these Forestry faculty videos without having to be on FBook?
Here is another very good short video on deer fern, from the Beaty Biodiversity Museum: Facebook I'm sure you don't have to log on to Facebook to see these.
Since Bracken Ferns were mentioned this morning by @Acerholic under 'Take a walk on the wild side', it was a bit of a coincidence to find a video about them at the end of the video mentioned by @wcutler (#11 above) which I just watched. Basic info but interesting. Bracken Ferns - How to Identify Them! || Nerdy About Nature Flora Guide - YouTube
That's great. The new forum will be well-stocked with good resources right from the start. I tried to find a single link to ferns on E-Flora BC but could not.
