Anchistea virginica (Linnaeus) C. Presl. Common name: Virginia Chain Fern. Phenology: Apr-Dec. Habitat: Moist to wet, acid, organic soils, such as bogs, blackwater bottomlands, pocosins, and bayhead margins, sometimes in standing water, as in periodically flooded coastal plain depression ponds, wet hammocks. Distribution: NS west to MI and IL, south to s. FL and e. TX (primarily Coastal Plain); Bermuda.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = Can, K4, NY, S13, Sf, Tat, Cranfill & Kato (2003), Gasper et al (2016), Gasper et al (2017), Perrie et al (2014), PPG I (2016); Blechnum virginicum L. — (basionym); = Woodwardia virginica (L.) Sm. — AqW, Ar, C, ETx1, F, Fl1, FNA2, G, Il, NE, NS, Pa, POWO, RAB, SFla, Tn, Tx, TxFerns, Va, W, WH3
Links to other floras: = Woodwardia virginica - FNA2
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: OBL (name change)
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: OBL (name change)
- Great Plains: OBL (name change)
- Midwest: OBL (name change)
- Northcentral & Northeast: OBL (name change)
Heliophily ⓘ: 5
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Horticultural Information
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Height: 18-24 in.
plant sale text: Virginia Chain Fern is found growing in bogs and swamps as well as other wet sites, such as along the edges of streams. Its natural range includes eastern North America and Bermuda. This species thrives in areas where the soil stays consistently moist, such as alongside a pond. Some Native American tribes used ferns of the Woodwardia genus for making baskets and dyes.
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native range: eastern North America