August 13th.
I was wandering along the trail on the ledge above our creek photographing
fungi. I sat down by a fallen branch to photograph some brackets. I was
concentrating so intently that I almost missed the…
fern that blended
in with the greenery around it.
The leaves told me
it was the Southern Grapefern (Botrychium biternatum).
Closer views of the
sporangia (spore packets).
These ferns have a
single sterile frond and a single fertile frond that bears the sporangia (spore
packets). The sterile frond is divided into three segments on each side of the
stem; the margins of the segments are serrulate.
The fronds are
joined at the base, sometimes below ground level, and sometimes just above
ground level.
In this case, they
were joined just above ground level.
On September 6th,
the sporangia were ripening and becoming brown in color. Hopefully, we may have
more ferns grow in this area.
References:
- Georgia Native
Plant Society. Southern grape fern (Botrychium biternatum)
- Native &
Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia: Southern Grapefern
(Botrychium biternatum)
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