OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Monilophytes (ferns): Leptosporangiate Ferns (true ferns): Polypodiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pteridium latiusculum   FAMILY Dennstaedtiaceae   Go to FSUS key



INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum   FAMILY Dennstaedtiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America

Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 010-05-001:

Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum   FAMILY Pteridaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)

Pteris latiuscula var. latiuscula

 

COMMON NAME:
Eastern Bracken, Brake


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970    swus_page_009

        

Image of Pteridium aquilinum "in the broad sense", including var. latiusculum & var. pseudocaudatum.

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

JK Marlow    jkm150424_721

April    Blount County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Terminal (caudate) tip of basalmost pinnule of basal pinna avg 12% (3-28%) of entire pinnule, per Weakley's Flora (2022).

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

Emily B. Sessa    ebspaquilinum_9374

May        

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

Emily B. Sessa    ebspaquilinum_9377

May        

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

Emily B. Sessa    ebspaquilinum_9396

May        

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

JK Marlow    jkm0205cb_10a

May    Greenville County    SC

Blade broadly triangular, divided into 3 nearly equal parts, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

JK Marlow    jkm080505_044b

May    Spartanburg County    SC

Chinquapin Greenway

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

JK Marlow    jkm120505_168

May    Rabun County    GA

Chattahoochee National Forest

In crosier form, 3 sections of frond uncoil like an eagle's claw opening, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

Emily B. Sessa    ebspaquilinum_1747

July        

Blade reflexed almost to the horizontal (parallel to ground), per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

Emily B. Sessa    ebspaquilinum_1770

July        

image of Pteridium latiusculum, Eastern Bracken, Brake

JK Marlow    jkm0511a_18

November    Haywood County    NC

Turns brown in autumn, but does not wither away until following year, per How to Know the Ferns (Parsons, 1899).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pteridium latiusculum   FAMILY Dennstaedtiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum   FAMILY Dennstaedtiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 010-05-001:
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum   FAMILY Pteridaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Pteris latiuscula var. latiuscula

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1169

Fern/Fern ally
Perennial

Habitat: Mainly in dry woodlands, forests, and heath balds, up to 1600 m in elevation, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (rare in Coastal Plain)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Deciduous
2-pinnate-pinnatifid to 3-pinnate
Leaves widely spaced along a creeping subterranean rhizome

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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