Cystopteris bulbifera

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Bulblet fern
Cystopteris bulbifera - Jenkins Arboretum - DSC00696.JPG
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Suborder: Aspleniineae
Family: Cystopteridaceae
Genus: Cystopteris
Species:
C. bulbifera
Binomial name
Cystopteris bulbifera
Synonyms
  • Aspidium bulbiferum(L.) Sw.
  • Cystea bulbifera(L.) Watt
  • Cystopteris atomariaC. Presl
  • Filix bulbifera(L.) Underw.
  • Polypodium bulbiferum L. [2]

Cystopteris bulbifera, with the common name bulblet fern, bulblet bladderfern, or bulblet fragile fern is a fern in the family Cystopteridaceae.

Contents

Distribution

The fern is native to eastern Canada, the Midwestern and Eastern United States, and two disjunct populations in the Southwestern United States.

It is found only on calcareous substrates such as limestone. It commonly festoons limestone cave openings. While most commonly found on vertical rock faces, it also grows in rocky scree.

Description

Cystopteris bulbifera is a low-growing rock fern with creeping stems and narrow elongate deltate fronds which grow to 75 cm (30 in). C. bulbifera is unusual among ferns in producing bulblets along the bottom of the fronds. This is one of the easiest Cystopteris species to identify.

Closeup of bulblet Cystopteris bulbifera bulblet.jpg
Closeup of bulblet

Hybrids

This species is known to hybridize with Cystopteris fragilis , Cystopteris protrusa , Cystopteris reevesiana, and Cystopteris tenuis . Hybrids with C. fragilis have given rise to the allohexaploid species Cystopteris laurentiana. Hybrids with Cystopteris protrusa have given rise to the allotetraploid species Cystopteris tennesseensis. The hybrid with C. reevesiana has given rise to the allotetraploid species Cystopteris utahensis . The hybrid with C. tenuis is known as C. × illinoensis, an allotriploid. Also see Cystopteris hybrid complex.

Related Research Articles

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Asplenium platyneuron, commonly known as ebony spleenwort or brownstem spleenwort, is a fern native to North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It takes its common name from its dark, reddish-brown, glossy stipe and rachis, which support a once-divided, pinnate leaf. The fertile fronds, which die off in the winter, are darker green and stand upright, while the sterile fronds are evergreen and lie flat on the ground. An auricle at the base of each pinna points towards the tip of the frond. The dimorphic fronds and alternate, rather than opposite, pinnae distinguish it from the similar black-stemmed spleenwort.

<i>Adiantum capillus-veneris</i> Species of fern

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulbil</span> Small young plant that grows from the parent plants stem

A bulbil is a small, young plant that is reproduced vegetatively from axillary buds on the parent plant's stem or in place of a flower on an inflorescence. These young plants are clones of the parent plant that produced them—they have identical genetic material. The formation of bulbils is a form of asexual reproduction, as they can eventually go on to form new stand-alone plants.

<i>Dryopteris marginalis</i> Species of fern

Dryopteris marginalis, vernacularly known as the marginal shield fern or marginal wood fern, is a perennial species of fern found in damp shady areas throughout eastern North America, from Texas to Minnesota and Newfoundland. It favors moderately acid to circumneutral soils in cooler areas but is fairly drought-resistant once established. In the warmer parts of its range, it is most likely to be found on north-facing non-calcareous rock faces. It is common in many altitudes throughout its range, from high ledges to rocky slopes and stream banks. Marginal wood fern's name derives from the fact that the sori are located on the margins, or edges of the leaflets.

<i>Asplenium rhizophyllum</i> Species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae

Asplenium rhizophyllum, the (American) walking fern, is a frequently-occurring fern native to North America. It is a close relative of Asplenium ruprechtii which is found in East Asia and also goes by the common name of "walking fern".

<i>Cystopteris</i> Genus of ferns

Cystopteris is a genus of ferns in the family Cystopteridaceae. These are known generally as bladderferns or fragile ferns. They grow in temperate areas worldwide. This is a very diverse genus and within a species individuals can look quite different, especially in harsh environments where stress stunts their growth. They hybridize easily with each other and identifying an individual can be challenging. In general these are rhizomatous perennials which grow in rocks or soil. Their leaves are multiply pinnate, in that each leaflet is divided into smaller parts. The sori are usually rounded and covered in an inflated bladder-like indusium.

<i>Cystopteris dickieana</i> Species of fern

Cystopteris dickieana, commonly known as Dickie's bladder-fern, is a fern with a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. There is debate amongst botanists as to whether it is a species in its own right or a variant of C. fragilis.

<i>Asplenium trichomanes</i> Species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae

Asplenium trichomanes, the maidenhair spleenwort, is a small fern in the spleenwort genus Asplenium. It is a widespread and common species, occurring almost worldwide in a variety of rocky habitats. It is a variable fern with several subspecies.

<i>Polypodium virginianum</i> Species of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae

Polypodium virginianum, commonly known as rock polypody, rock cap fern, or common polypody, is a small evergreen species of fern native to the Eastern United States and Canada. It generally grows on rocks and occasionally on tree roots in nature.

<i>Cystopteris protrusa</i> Species of fern

Cystopteris protrusa is a common fern of North America, commonly known as the lowland bladderfern, lowland brittle fern or lowland fragile fern.

<i>Cystopteris tenuis</i> Species of fern

Cystopteris tenuis is sometimes known as Mackay's bladder fern or Mackay's fragile fern. It was long considered to be a part of the superspecies for fragile ferns, as Cystopteris fragilis(L.) Bernh. var. mackayiLawson.

<i>Pellaea atropurpurea</i> Species of fern

Pellaea atropurpurea, commonly known as purple-stem cliffbrake or just purple cliffbrake, is a fern native to North and Central America. Brake is an old word for fern, related to the word bracken. Like many other members of the Pteridaceae, it is a rock plant, needing a calcareous substrate.

<i>Asplenium bradleyi</i> Species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae

Asplenium bradleyi, commonly known as Bradley's spleenwort or cliff spleenwort, is a rare epipetric fern of east-central North America. Named after Professor Frank Howe Bradley, who first collected it in Tennessee, it may be found infrequently throughout much of the Appalachian Mountains, the Ozarks, and the Ouachita Mountains, growing in small crevices on exposed sandstone cliffs. The species originated as a hybrid between mountain spleenwort and ebony spleenwort ; A. bradleyi originated when that sterile diploid hybrid underwent chromosome doubling to become a fertile tetraploid, a phenomenon known as allopolyploidy. Studies indicate that the present population of Bradley's spleenwort arose from several independent doublings of sterile diploid hybrids. A. bradleyi can also form sterile hybrids with several other spleenworts.

<i>Cystopteris alpina</i> Species of fern

Cystopteris alpina is a fern in the family Cystopteridaceae. It is closely related to C. fragilis and has been treated as conspecific with that species by many authors. However, according to the Flora of North America, it is an allopolyploid species of hybrid origin, with Cystopteris montana as one probable parent. It is known to hybridise with C. fragilis in Scandinavia and intermediate plants possibly of hybrid origin are known from North Wales.

<i>Asplenium <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> ebenoides</i> Hybrid fern in the family Aspleniaceae

Asplenium × ebenoides is a hybrid fern native to eastern North America, part of the "Appalachian Asplenium complex" of related hybrids. The sterile offspring of the walking fern (A. rhizophyllum) and the ebony spleenwort (A. platyneuron), A. × ebenoides is intermediate in morphology between its two parents, combining the long, narrow blade of A. rhizophyllum with a dark stem and lobes or pinnae similar to those of A. platyneuron. While A. × ebenoides is generally sterile, fertile specimens with double the number of chromosomes are known from Havana Glen, Alabama. These fertile allotetraploids were reclassified as a separate species named A. tutwilerae in 2007, retaining the name A. × ebenoides for the sterile diploids only.

<i>Asplenium tutwilerae</i> Species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae

Asplenium tutwilerae is a rare epipetric fern found only in Hale County, Alabama, United States. A. tutwilerae is a fertile allotetraploid, formed by the chromosomal doubling of a specimen of the sterile diploid A. × ebenoides, a hybrid of A. platyneuron and A. rhizophyllum. Except for its spores, which are fertile rather than malformed, A. tutwilerae is essentially identical to A. × ebenoides and was described as part of that species until 2007. It is named in honor of Julia Tutwiler, who discovered the only known wild population at Havana Glen in 1873.

<i>Cystopteris laurentiana</i> Species of plant

Cystopteris laurentiana, commonly called Laurentian bladderfern or St. Lawrence bladderfern, is a species of fern in the family Cystopteridaceae. It is native to eastern North America, primarily in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence lowlands, but there are also scattered occurrences in New England and Atlantic Canada. It grows on cliffs composed of calcareous rocks, such as limestone, dolostone and diabase.

<i>Cystopteris utahensis</i> Species of fern

Cystopteris utahensis, commonly called the Utah bladderfern is a rare species of fern found in canyons and on sheltered cliff faces with calcareous rocks. It mainly grows on the Colorado plateau in the western United States, but is also found in a few locations in southern New Mexico and an adjacent area of Texas. Studies of its genetics show that it originates from a natural hybrid of the species Cystopteris bulbifera and Cystopteris reevesiana.

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Cystopteris bulbifera Bulblet Fern". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  2. synonyms Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 24 Dec 2011

Further reading