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Lygodiaceae
Lygodium

not marked as a favorite taxon Lygodium palmatum (Bernhardi) Swartz ssp. palmatum. Common name: American Climbing Fern, Hartford Fern. Phenology: Jul-Sep. Habitat: Bogs, moist thickets, swamp forests, sandstone outcrops, roadside ditches and roadbanks, in strongly acid soils. Distribution: New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Michigan south to South Carolina, n. Georgia, and n. Alabama, widely scattered in its distribution except in the Cumberland Plateau of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, where it is most common. This subspecies occurs at least sporadically nearly throughout the distribution of the species, but becomes prevalent in the southern and western portions of the species' distribution.

Glossary (beta!)

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Taxonomy Comments: Garrison (1992) discussed two forms of the species, "one with long appressed hairs scattered over the lower (abaxial) side of the sterile leaflets and the other relatively hair-free". The two forms appear to be geographically differentiated, the pubescent form predominating south and west of Maryland, the glabrous form occurring primarily in the Northeast. Both forms are present in our region. Metzgar (2025) studied the variation further and recognized two subspecies.

Synonymy ⓘ: = Metzgar (2025); Cteisium paniculatum Michx.; Gisopteris palmata Bernh.; Hydroglossum palmatum (Bernhardi) Willdenow; < Lygodium palmatum (Bernh.) Sw. — C, F, Fl1, FNA2, G, K1, K4, NE, NS, Pa, POWO, RAB, S13, Sf, Tat, Tn, Va, W, WV. Basionym: Gisopteris palmata Bernh. 1801

Links to other floras: < Lygodium palmatum - FNA2

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Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
  • Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
  • Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
  • Midwest: FACW
  • Midwest: FACW
  • Northcentral & Northeast: FACW
  • Northcentral & Northeast: FACW

Heliophily ⓘ: 6

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Horticultural Information

No horticultural data found for this taxon.