VNPS 2017: Ferns with Carl and Jerry Taylor

Carl and Jerry Taylor did a fern-intensive walk, bushwhacking up ravines from the C&O Canal towpath near Snyder’s Landing.

lacier than Marginaland reverseWe sorted out our Dryopteris species, among them Intermediate Woodfern (D. intermedia) (left, and with sori, right)

not quite leatheryand Marginal Woodfern (D. marginalis).

love the spleenwortsIt was a good day for spleenworts, four species in all, including this lovely Maidenhair Spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes).

twoferAt a quick stop on the way back to our meeting point, Carl pointed out some cliff-preferring species, like this pair of Wall Rue (A. ruta-muraria) (above) and Blunt-lobed Cliff Fern (Woodsia obtusa).

But the WOW moment was the look at, with hand lens assist, a few gametophytes (prothallus) of Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostochoides). The trick to seeing gametophytes is to find a nurse log or other suitable substrate, then look for tiny sporophytes just getting started (a few millimeters tall). At the base of the sporophyte, you might find the remnants of the gametophyte.