Lygodium palmatum (Bernhardi) Swartz ssp. puskariorum Metzgar. 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, and New York south to New Jersey, e. Maryland, and c. Pennsylvania; disjunct in Coastal Plain of North Carolina.
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); = Lygodium palmatum (Bernh.) Sw. — NY; < Cteisium paniculatum Michx.; < Gisopteris palmata Bernh.; < Hydroglossum palmatum (Bernhardi) Willdenow; < Lygodium palmatum (Bernh.) Sw. — C, F, FNA2, G, K1, K4, NE, NS, Pa, POWO, RAB, S13, Sf, Tat. Basionym: Lygodium palmatum (Bernh.) Sw. ssp. puskariorum Metzgar 2025
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.