List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland 1

This page covers the fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s and allies (Lycopodiopsida

Lycopodiopsida

Lycopodiopsida is a class of plants often loosely grouped as the fern allies. Traditionally the group included not only the clubmosses and firmosses, but also the spikemosses and the quillworts...

, Equisetopsida

Equisetopsida

Equisetopsida, or Sphenopsida, is a class of plants with a fossil record going back to the Devonian. They are commonly known as horsetails...

and Pteridopsida). For the background to this list see parent article List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland
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Go to: page 2 - conifers (Pinopsida)

Family Lycopodiaceae
Lycopodiaceae
The Lycopodiaceae is a family of primitive vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses. These plants bear spores on specialized structures at the apex of a shoot; they resemble a tiny battle club, from which the common name derives...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Fir Clubmoss	Huperzia selago
Marsh Clubmoss	Lycopodiella inundata Lycopodiella inundata Lycopodiella inundata is a species of club moss known by the common names inundated club moss, marsh club moss and northern bog club moss. It has a circumpolar and circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic to montane temperate regions in...
Stag's-horn Clubmoss	Lycopodium clavatum Lycopodium clavatum Lycopodium clavatum is the most widespread species in the genus Lycopodium of the clubmoss family Lycopodiaceae....
Interrupted Clubmoss	Lycopodium annotinum Lycopodium annotinum Lycopodium annotinum L. is a species of clubmoss native to forests of the Holarctic Kingdom. A new genus, Spinulum A. Haines, has been proposed for this and closely allied species, but phylogenetic analysis has shown that this small clade is very close to the Lycopodium clavatum...
Alpine Clubmoss	Diphasiastrum alpinum Diphasiastrum alpinum Diphasiastrum alpinum, Alpine Clubmoss, is a species of clubmoss. It is found in mountains and moors often with Calluna and grasses....
Issler's Clubmoss	Diphasiastrum complanatum Diphasiastrum complanatum Diphasiastrum complanatum Holub is a species of clubmoss native to dry coniferous forests throughout the Holarctic Kingdom...

Family Selaginellaceae

English name	Scientific name	Status
Lesser Clubmoss	Selaginella selaginoides Selaginella selaginoides Selaginella selaginoides is a non-flowering plant of the spikemoss genus Selaginella with a wide distribution around the Northern Hemisphere. It resembles a moss in appearance but is a vascular plant belonging to the division Lycopodiophyta...
Krauss's Clubmoss	Selaginella kraussiana Selaginella kraussiana Selaginella kraussiana, sometimes known by the common names of Krauss's spikemoss and African clubmoss, is a clubmoss found naturally in the Canary Islands, the Azores and parts of mainland Africa .-Invasive plant:...	*

Family Isoetaceae

English name	Scientific name	Status
Quillwort	Isoetes lacustris Isoetes lacustris Isoetes lacustris is a boreal quillwort native on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean. In Europe, it is distributed from Poland west to northeastern France, throughout Scandinavia, the west and north of the British Isles, the Faroe Islands and Iceland...
Spring Quillwort	Isoetes echinospora
Land Quillwort	Isoetes histrix Isoetes histrix Isoetes histrix is an aquatic pteridophyte native to the Mediterranean region, northwestern Africa, and the coasts of western Europe northwest to Cornwall. It occurs mainly in temporarily wet habitats, otherwise called vernal pools....

Family Equisetaceae
Equisetaceae
Equisetaceae, sometimes called the horsetail family, is the only extant family of the class Equisetales, with one surviving genus, Equisetum, which comprises about twenty species.- Evolution and systematics :...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Rough Horsetail	Equisetum hyemale Equisetum hyemale Equisetum hyemale , known in South Africa as snake grass, is a species of horsetail native to moist forests, forest edges and stream banks, swamps and fens throughout the Holarctic Kingdom.-Usage:...
Branched Horsetail	Equisetum ramosissimum	*
Variegated Horsetail	Equisetum variegatum Equisetum variegatum Equisetum variegatum is a horsetail native to the Northern Hemisphere.-Description:...
Water Horsetail	Equisetum fluviatile
Field Horsetail	Equisetum arvense Equisetum arvense Equisetum arvense, commonly known as the Field Horsetail or Common Horsetail, is a rather bushy perennial with a rhizomatous stem formation native to the northern hemisphere. These horsetails may have sterile or fertile stems. Sterile stems start to grow after the fertile stems have wilted...
Shady Horsetail	Equisetum pratense Equisetum pratense Equisetum pratense, commonly known as meadow horsetail, shade horsetail or shady horsetail, is a plant species belonging to the division of horsetails . Shade horsetail can be commonly found in forests with tall trees or very thick foliage that can provide shade. They also tend to grow closer and...
Wood Horsetail	Equisetum sylvaticum
Marsh Horsetail	Equisetum palustre Equisetum palustre Equisetum palustre, the marsh horsetail, is a plant species belonging to the division of horsetails .- Description :...
Great Horsetail	Equisetum telmateia Equisetum telmateia Equisetum telmateia is a species of Equisetum with an unusual distribution, with one subspecies native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa, and a second subspecies native to western North America...

Family Ophioglossaceae
Ophioglossaceae
Ophioglossaceae, the Adder's tongue family, is a family of ferns, currently thought to be most closely related to Psilotaceae, the two together comprising the class Psilotopsida as the sibling group to the rest of the ferns. The Ophioglossaceae is one of two groups of ferns traditionally known as...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Southern Adder's-tongue	Ophioglossum vulgatum Ophioglossum vulgatum Ophioglossum vulgatum, commonly known as the Southern adderstongue, is a species of the plant genus Ophioglossum. It is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with a scattered distribution in Europe, Asia, northwestern Africa, and eastern North America.This plant grows from a...
Small Adder's-tongue	Ophioglossum azoricum Ophioglossum azoricum Ophioglossum azoricum is a small fern of the family Ophioglossaceae.- Description :The frond consists of a single, pointed leaf blade and a narrow pointed spore-bearing spike on a stalk. The spike has about 4-18 segments on each side, each of which opens up when ripe to release spores...
Least Adder's-tongue	Ophioglossum lusitanicum Ophioglossum lusitanicum Ophioglossum lusitanicum is a small fern of the family Ophioglossaceae. It is categorised as Vulnerable by the IUCN .- Description :...
Moonwort	Botrychium lunaria Botrychium lunaria Botrychium lunaria is a species of fern known by the common name common moonwort. It is the most widely distributed moonwort, growing throughout the Northern Hemisphere across Eurasia and from Alaska to Greenland, as well as parts of the Southern Hemisphere including South America and Australia...

Family Osmundaceae
Osmundaceae
The Osmundaceae is a family of four genera and 15-25 species. It is the only fern family of the order Osmundales; an order in the class Pteridopsida or in some classifications the only order in the class Osmundopsida...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Royal Fern	Osmunda regalis

Family Adiantaceae
Adiantaceae
Adiantaceae is a family of ferns in the order Pteridales. This includes the family formerly known as the "Vittariaceae." Recent genetic analyses based on chloroplast genes demonstrate that the vittarioid ferns cladistically nest within the genus Adiantum, making that genus...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Parsley fern	Cryptogramma crispa Cryptogramma crispa Cryptogramma crispa, the parsley fern, is a species of Arctic-alpine fern. It produces separate sterile and fertile fronds, up to tall, and is a pioneer species on acidic screes.-Description:...
Maidenhair Fern	Adiantum capillus-veneris Adiantum capillus-veneris Adiantum capillus-veneris, the Southern maidenhair fern, black maidenhair fern, and venus hair fern, is a species of fern in the genus Adiantum with a subcosmopolitan worldwide distribution...
Ribbon Fern	Pteris cretica	*

Family Marsileaceae
Marsileaceae
The Marsileaceae are a small family of heterosporous aquatic and semi-aquatic ferns, though at first sight they do not physically resemble other ferns. The group is commonly known as the "pepperwort family" or as the "water-clover family" because the leaves of the genus Marsilea superficially...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Pillwort	Pilularia globulifera

Family Hymenophyllaceae

English name	Scientific name	Status
Tunbridge Filmy-fern	Hymenophyllum tunbrigense
Wilson's Filmy-fern	Hymenophyllum wilsonii
Killarney Fern	Trichomanes speciosum Trichomanes speciosum Trichomanes speciosum commonly known as Killarney Fern is a species of fern found widely in Western Europe. It is most abundant in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Brittany and Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores, but is also found in other locations including France, Spain, Portugal and Italy.The...

Family Polypodiaceae
Polypodiaceae
Polypodiaceae is a family of polypod ferns, which includes more than 60 genera divided into several tribes and containing around 1,000 species. Nearly all are epiphytes, but some are terrestrial.-Description:...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Polypody	Polypodium vulgare Polypodium vulgare Polypodium vulgare, the common polypody, is a fern of the Polypodiaceae family.- Description :Polypodium vulgare, the common polypody, is a fern developing in isolation from along a horizontal rhizome. The fronds with triangular leaflets measure 10 to 50 centimetres...
Intermediate Polypody	Polypodium interjectum
Southern Polypody	Polypodium cambricum
Kangaroo Fern	Phymatosorus diversifolius	*

Family Dicksoniaceae
Dicksoniaceae
The Dicksoniaceae is a family of tropical, subtropical and warm temperate ferns. Most of the 5-6 genera in the family are terrestrial ferns or have very short trunks compared to tree ferns of the family Cyatheaceae. However, some of the larger species can reach several metres in height. A number of...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Australian Tree-fern	Dicksonia antarctica Dicksonia antarctica Dicksonia antarctica, known as the Soft Tree Fern, Man Fern or Tasmanian Tree Fern, is an evergreen tree fern native to parts of Australia, namely south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and Victoria and Tasmania.- Anatomy and biology :...	*

Family Dennstaedtiaceae
Dennstaedtiaceae
Dennstaedtiaceae is one of fifteen families in the order Polypodiales, the most derived families within monilophytes . It includes the world's most abundant fern, Pteridium aquilinum . Members of the order generally have large, highly divided leaves and have either small, round intramarginal sori...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Bracken	Pteridium aquilinum Pteridium aquilinum Pteridium aquilinum is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions throughout much of the northern hemisphere....

Family Thelypteridaceae
Thelypteridaceae
Thelypteridaceae is a family of about 900 species of ferns.The ferns are terrestrial, with the exception of a few which are lithophytes . The bulk of the species are tropical, although there are a number of temperate species....

English name	Scientific name	Status
Marsh Fern	Thelypteris palustris Thelypteris palustris Thelypteris palustris, or the marsh fern, is a fern native to eastern North America and across Eurasia. It prefers to grow in marshy situations in full sun.-References:*...
Beech Fern	Phegopteris connectilis Phegopteris connectilis Phegopteris connectilis, commonly known as Long Beech Fern, is a species of fern native to forests of the Holarctic Kingdom.Unlike its close relative, Phegopteris hexagonoptera, which is terrestrial, this species is often epipetric as well as terrestrial.This species is normally apogamous, with a...
Lemon-scented Fern	Oreopteris limbospermum

Family Aspleniaceae
Aspleniaceae
The Aspleniaceae is a family of ferns, included in the order Polypodiales or in some classifications as the only family in the order Aspleniales....

English name	Scientific name	Status
Hart's-tongue	Asplenium scolopendrium
Black Spleenwort	Asplenium adiantum-nigrum Asplenium adiantum-nigrum Asplenium adiantum-nigrum is a common species of fern known by the common name black spleenwort. It is found mostly in Africa, Europe, and and Eurasia, but is also native to a few locales in Mexico and the US.-Description:...
Irish Spleenwort	Asplenium onopteris
Lanceolate Spleenwort	Asplenium obovatum
Sea Spleenwort	Asplenium marinum
Maidenhair Spleenwort	Asplenium trichomanes Asplenium trichomanes Asplenium trichomanes is a small fern in the spleenwort genus Asplenium. It is a widespread and common species, occurring almost worldwide in a variety of rocky habitats. It is a variable fern with several subspecies.-Description:It grows in tufts from a short rhizome...
Green Spleenwort	Asplenium viride Asplenium viride Asplenium viride is known as the green spleenwort because of its green stipes and raches. This feature easily distinguishes this species from the very similar-looking maidenhair spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes.-Nomenclature:...
Wall-rue	Asplenium ruta-muraria Asplenium ruta-muraria Asplenium ruta-muraria is a species of fern commonly known as wall-rue. In Germany, it is known as Mauerraute or Mauerstreifenfarn. It is a very small epipetric species, growing exclusively on limestone and other calcareous rocks. It is native to both Europe and eastern North America...
Forked Spleenwort	Asplenium septentrionale Asplenium septentrionale Asplenium septentrionale is a species of fern known by the common names northern spleenwort and forked spleenwort. It is native to western North America, Europe, and Asia, where it grows in rocky areas....
Rustyback	Asplenium ceterach

Family Woodsiaceae
Woodsiaceae
Woodsiaceae or Cliff Fern is a family of fern within the Aspleniales order....

English name	Scientific name	Status
Ostrich Fern	Matteuccia struthiopteris	*
Sensitive Fern	Onoclea sensibilis	*
Lady-fern	Athyrium filix-femina Athyrium filix-femina Athyrium filix-femina is a large, feathery species of fern native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, where it is often abundant in damp, shady woodland environments and is often grown for decoration.The plant is caespitose Athyrium filix-femina (Lady Fern or Common Lady-fern)...
Alpine Lady-fern	Athyrium distentifolium Athyrium distentifolium Athyrium distentifolium commonly known as Alpine Lady-fern is a fern found in widely in the Northern Hemisphere.It is a common upland variety above 600 metres in the Highlands of Scotland, with more than 10% of the UK population being found in the Cairngorm mountains, especially on scree...
Newman's Lady-fern	Athyrium flexile Athyrium flexile Athyrium flexile, commonly known as Newman's Lady-fern, is a fern endemic to Scotland.It is an upland variety typically found above 750 metres on screes made up of siliceous rocks such as quartzite and granite in the Highlands where it is found at only four sites...
Oak Fern	Gymnocarpium dryopteris
Limestone Fern	Gymnocarpium robertianum Gymnocarpium robertianum Gymnocarpium robertianum is a fern of the family Woodsiaceae.-Description:Gymnocarpium robertianum has small , deltate, two to three pinnate fronds. Fronds arise from creeping rhizomes and have long, delicate rachis. The sori are borne in round clumps on the underside of the blade and lack an...
Brittle Bladder-fern	Cystopteris fragilis Cystopteris fragilis Cystopteris fragilis is a species of fern known by the common names brittle bladderfern and common fragile fern. It can be found worldwide, generally in shady, moist areas. The leaves are up to 30 or 40 centimeters long and are borne on fleshy petioles. Each leaf is divided into many pairs of...
Dickie's Bladder-fern	Cystopteris dickieana Cystopteris dickieana Cystopteris dickieana commonly known as Dickie's Bladder-fern is a fern with a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. There is debate amongst botanists as to whether it is a species in its own right or a variant of C. fragilis....
Mountain Bladder-fern	Cystopteris montana Cystopteris montana Cystopteris montana is a species of fern known by the common name mountain bladderfern. It occurs throughout the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, in Eurasia, Greenland, and Alaska, and throughout Canada. It is also present in the higher elevations in Colorado farther south.This fern...
Oblong Woodsia	Woodsia ilvensis Woodsia ilvensis Woodsia ilvensis, commonly known as Oblong Woodsia, is a fern found in North America and northern Eurasia. Also known as Rusty Woodsia or Rusty Cliff Fern, it is typically found on sunny, exposed cliffs and rocky slopes and on thin, dry, acidic soils.-Distribution:Its distribution is circumpolar...
Alpine Woodsia	Woodsia alpina Woodsia alpina Woodsia alpina, commonly known as Alpine Woodsia, is a fern found in northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Also known as Northern Woodsia or Alpine Cliff Fern, it is typically found in crevices, scree slopes and cliffs containing slate and calcareous rocks, especially...

Family Dryopteridaceae
Dryopteridaceae
Dryopteridaceae, is a family of leptosporangiate ferns in the order Polypodiales. They are known colloquially as the wood ferns. They comprise about 1700 species and have a cosmopolitan distribution. They may be terrestrial, epipetric, hemiepiphytic, or epiphytic. Many are cultivated as...

English name	Scientific name	Status
Soft Shield Fern	Polystichum setiferum Polystichum setiferum Polystichum setiferum is an evergreen or semi-evergreen fern native to southern and western Europe.-Distribution:...
Hard Shield Fern	Polystichum aculeatum Polystichum aculeatum Polystichum aculeatum is an evergreen fern native to Europe. It is most abundant in upland regions of the British Isles and western France, where it benefits from the combination of mild winters and moist summers, but also occurs more locally across most of Europe except northern Scandinavia,...
Holly fern	Polystichum lonchitis Polystichum lonchitis Polystichum lonchitis is a species of fern known by the common name northern holly fern, or simply holly fern. It is native to much of the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to Alaska to Greenland and south into mountainous central North America. It grows in moist, shady, rocky mountain habitat. This...
House Holly-fern	Cyrtomium falcatum Cyrtomium falcatum Cyrtomium falcatum is a species of fern known by the common name Japanese holly fern. It is native to eastern Asia.It grows from crevices, coastal cliffs, streambanks, rocky slopes, and other moist, stable areas.-Description:...	*
Mountain Male-fern	Dryopteris oreades
Male-fern	Dryopteris filix-mas Dryopteris filix-mas Dryopteris filix-mas is one of the most common ferns of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, occurring throughout much of Europe, Asia, and North America. It favours damp shaded areas and is common in the understory of woodlands, but is also found in shady places on hedge-banks, rocks, and screes...
Scaly Male-fern	Dryopteris affinis Dryopteris affinis Dryopteris affinis is fern native to western and southern Europe and southwestern Asia....
Scaly Buckler-fern	Dryopteris remota	e
Hay-scented Buckler-fern	Dryopteris aemula
Rigid Buckler-fern	Dryopteris submontana
Crested Buckler-fern	Dryopteris cristata Dryopteris cristata Dryopteris cristata A. Gray is a species of fern native to wetlands throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is known as the crested wood fern...
Narrow Buckler-fern	Dryopteris carthusiana Dryopteris carthusiana Dryopteris carthusiana H.P. Fuchs is a species of fern native to damp forests throughout the Holarctic Kingdom...
Broad Buckler-fern	Dryopteris dilatata
Northern Buckler-fern	Dryopteris expansa Dryopteris expansa Dryopteris expansa, alpine buckler fern or spreading wood fern, is a species of fern native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, south at high altitudes in mountains to Spain and Greece in southern Europe, to Japan in eastern Asia, and to central California in North...

Family Blechnaceae
Blechnaceae
Blechnaceae is a family of nine genera and between 240-260 species of ferns, with a cosmopolitan distribution.Most are ground dwelling, some are climbers, such as Stenochlaena. A characteristic feature of many species is that the young opening fronds are usually tinged with red.Genera*Blechnum L....

English name	Scientific name	Status
Hard-fern	Blechnum spicant Blechnum spicant Blechnum spicant is a species of fern known by the common names Deer fern or hard fern. It is native to Europe and western North America. Like some other Blechnum it has two types of leaves...
Chilean Hard-fern	Blechnum cordatum	*

Family Azollaceae

English name	Scientific name	Status
Water Fern	Azolla filiculoides Azolla filiculoides Azolla filiculoides is a species of Azolla, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas as well as most of the old world including Asia and Australia....	*

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Family LycopodiaceaeLycopodiaceaeThe Lycopodiaceae is a family of primitive vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses. These plants bear spores on specialized structures at the apex of a shoot; they resemble a tiny battle club, from which the common name derives...

Family Selaginellaceae

Family Isoetaceae

Family EquisetaceaeEquisetaceaeEquisetaceae, sometimes called the horsetail family, is the only extant family of the class Equisetales, with one surviving genus, Equisetum, which comprises about twenty species.- Evolution and systematics :...

Family OsmundaceaeOsmundaceaeThe Osmundaceae is a family of four genera and 15-25 species. It is the only fern family of the order Osmundales; an order in the class Pteridopsida or in some classifications the only order in the class Osmundopsida...

Family Hymenophyllaceae

Family PolypodiaceaePolypodiaceaePolypodiaceae is a family of polypod ferns, which includes more than 60 genera divided into several tribes and containing around 1,000 species. Nearly all are epiphytes, but some are terrestrial.-Description:...

Family ThelypteridaceaeThelypteridaceaeThelypteridaceae is a family of about 900 species of ferns.The ferns are terrestrial, with the exception of a few which are lithophytes . The bulk of the species are tropical, although there are a number of temperate species....

Family AspleniaceaeAspleniaceaeThe Aspleniaceae is a family of ferns, included in the order Polypodiales or in some classifications as the only family in the order Aspleniales....

Family WoodsiaceaeWoodsiaceaeWoodsiaceae or Cliff Fern is a family of fern within the Aspleniales order....