Description

Diplazium pycnocarpon (narrow-leaved glade fern, narrow-leaved-spleenwort, glade fern) is a tall slender-leaved fern growing as individuals with 5 to 6 leaves. The plant spreads by creeping underground stems allowing a small colony to develop over time. The leaf blade is oblong-lanceolate and once-pinnate, unlike the closely related Athyrium

Athyrium

Athyrium is a genus of about 180 species of terrestrial ferns, with a cosmopolitan distribution.Athyrium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Small Angle Shades and Sthenopis auratus.-Species:There are about 180, including:-References:***...

. Leaves grow to about 90 cm (36 in) long and 15 cm (6 in) wide. The pinnae are linear and entire. Fertile leaves are similar but erect, narrower than sterile leaves and with longer stipes. The sori are long and narrow in two lines along the underside of a leaf pinna.

Distribution

Endemic to eastern North America. Widespread from southern Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico and west to Minnesota and Arkansas. Usually found as isolated plants or colonies. See Flora North America for distribution map.

Ecology

Grows in lighter parts of mesophytic forests and in ravines in moist but well-drained, neutral to basic soils.

External links

• Flora of North America: Diplazium pycnocarpon
• USDA plant profile
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Data Portal

Further reading

Cobb, Boughton. (1984). A Field Guide to Ferns and their Related Families of Northeastern and Central North America. Peterson Field Guides.