| Silvery glade fern | |
|---|---|
| Diplazium pycnocarpon in rich mesophytic forest, Brown County State Park, Indiana, USA. | |
| Conservation status | |
|
Secure (NatureServe) |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pteridophyta |
| Class: | Pteridopsida |
| Order: | Blechnales |
| Family: | Athyriaceae |
| Genus: | Diplazium |
| Species: | D. pycnocarpon |
| Binomial name | |
| Diplazium pycnocarpon (Spreng.) Broun |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Asplenium pycnocarpon Spreng. |
|
Contents |
Diplazium pycnocarpon (narrow-leaved glade fern, narrow-leaved-spleenwort, glade fern) is a tall slender-leaved fern growing as individuals with 5 to 6 leaves. The plant spreads by creeping underground stems allowing a small colony to develop over time. The leaf blade is oblong-lanceolate and once-pinnate, unlike the closely related Athyrium. Leaves grow to about 90 cm (36 in) long and 15 cm (6 in) wide. The pinnae are linear and entire. Fertile leaves are similar but erect, narrower than sterile leaves and with longer stipes. The sori are long and narrow in two lines along the underside of a leaf pinna.
Endemic to eastern North America. Widespread from southern Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico and west to Minnesota and Arkansas. Usually found as isolated plants or colonies. See Flora North America for distribution map.
Grows in lighter parts of mesophytic forests and in ravines in moist but well-drained, neutral to basic soils.
Cobb, Boughton. (1984). A Field Guide to Ferns and their Related Families of Northeastern and Central North America. Peterson Field Guides.