Lygodium palmatum (Bernhardi) Swartz. 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: NH, VT, NY, and MI south to SC, n. GA, and n. AL, widely scattered in its distribution except in the Cumberland Plateau of KY, TN, and AL, where it is most common.

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 area. Further research is needed to determine the taxonomic significance of this variation in pubescence.

Synonymy ⓘ: = C, F, Fl1, FNA2, G, K4, NE, NS, NY, Pa, POWO, RAB, S13, Sf, Tat, Tn, Va, W, WV; Cteisium paniculatum Michx.; Gisopteris palmata Bernh.; Hydroglossum palmatum (Bernhardi) Willdenow. 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
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
• Midwest: FACW
• Northcentral & Northeast: FACW

Heliophily ⓘ: 6