Checklist of the Ferns and Fern Allies
of the
Ivy Creek Natural Area

Ferns and their allies are very ancient plants. They were present at the time of the dinosaurs, before any of the flowering plants arose.

Ferns and their allies can be distinguished from other plants by two simple characteristics. First, unlike true mosses and in common with flowering plants, these are vascular plants. That is, they have specialized woody tissue used to transport water through out the plant. This allows them to live in areas with variable moisture and to grow taller than mosses.

Second, like mosses, these plants reproduce by means of spores and not seeds. In ferns and fern allies, spores germinate to form free living plants (the prothallus) that function as flowers. These, in turn, give rise to the mature plants we recognize.

Running Cedar
Princess Pine
Shining Clubmoss

Lycopodium digitatum
Lycopodium obscurum
Lycopodium lucidulum

Meadow Spikemoss

Selaginella apoda

Cinnamon fern
Interrupted fern
Royal fern

Osmunda cinnamomea
Osmunda claytoniana
Osmunda regalis

Rock cap fern

Polypodium virginianum

Hay scented fern
Bracken

Dennstaedtia punctilobulia
Pteridium aquilinum

Maidenhair fern

Adiantum pedatum

Ebony spleenwort
Walking fern
Lady fern
Blunt Cliff fern
Beech fern
Marginal Wood fern
Intermediate Wood fern
Spinulose Wood fern
Christmas fern
New York fern

Asplenium platyneuron
Camptosorus rhizophyllum
Athyrium asplenoides
Woodsia obtusa
Phegopteris hexagonoptera
Dryopteris marginalis
Dryopteris intermedia
Dryopteris spinulosa
Polystichium acrostichoides
Thelypteris noveboracensis

Sensitive fern

Onoclea sensibilis