Claytosmunda claytoniana (Linnaeus) Metzgar & Rouhan. Interrupted Fern. Phen: Mar-Jun. Hab: Upland forests, woodlands, and balds, moist (or even wet) to rather dry. Dist: NL (Newfoundland) west to MN, south to n. GA, n. AL, TN, and AR; disjunct in e. and sc. Asia (the Asian plants sometimes separated as a variety).
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Other Comments: A fossil from the Triassic is seemingly indistinguishable from this species and suggests "that O. claytoniana has perhaps been in morphological stasis for at least 200 million years and also that the genus Osmunda is at least this old" (Metzgar et al. 2008).
Synonymy: = Bomfleur, Grimm, & McLoughlin (2015), Bomfleur, Grimm, & McLoughlin (2017), Metzgar et al (2008), PPG I (2016); = Osmunda claytoniana – Ar, FNA2, FoC, G, Il, K1, K3, Mo1, NE, NY, Pa, RAB, S13, Sf, Tat, Tn, W, WV; = Osmundastrum claytonianum (L.) Tagawa – K4; > Osmunda claytoniana var. claytoniana – C, F, Va
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© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Edwin Bridges | Original Image ⭷
© Alan M. Cressler | Original Image ⭷
© Edwin Bridges | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Claytosmunda claytoniana, Ball Mountain, Blue Ridge crest, Chattahoochee National Forest, Fannin County, Georgia 2 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Claytosmunda claytoniana, Ball Mountain, Blue Ridge crest, Chattahoochee National Forest, Fannin County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷