OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cystopteris protrusa   FAMILY Cystopteridaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cystopteris protrusa   FAMILY Dryopteridaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Cystopteris protrusa

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Cystopteris protrusa

SYNONYMOUS WITH The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014)

Cystopteris protrusa

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 011-03-001:

Cystopteris protrusa   FAMILY Aspidiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)

Cystopteris fragilis var. protrusa

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

Cystopteris fragilis var. protrusa

 

COMMON NAME:
Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern


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

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm230322_1942

March    Oconee County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm230322_1978

March    Oconee County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_cystopteris_protrusa

March        

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

Emily B. Sessa    ebs_cprotrusa7882

April        

Lower pinnules (near rachis) on lower pinnae have small stalks, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

Emily B. Sessa    ebs_cprotrusa7888

April        

Long-creeping rhizome extends forward past emerging fronds (thus protrusa), per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

Emily B. Sessa    ebs_cprotrusa7892

April        

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm070407_074

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

Gently explore the soil below outermost emergent fronds to feel rhizome tip, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm140418_291

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Habit of growing in soil not on rocks helps distinguish it from similar spp, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm0505m_06

May    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

For many years this was considered the same species as C. fragilis, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm160516_760

May    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Blade lanceolate, tips pointed, widest just below middle; ~ dissected, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm160516_763b

May    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm210615_1387b

June    Oconee County    SC

Jocassee Gorges

Sori roundish, astride veins, submarginal, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).

image of Cystopteris protrusa, Lowland Bladder Fern, Spreading Bladder Fern

JK Marlow    jkm170818_708

August    Jackson County    NC

Big Ridge Preserve

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cystopteris protrusa   FAMILY Cystopteridaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cystopteris protrusa   FAMILY Dryopteridaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cystopteris protrusa

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Cystopteris protrusa

SYNONYMOUS WITH The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014)
Cystopteris protrusa

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 011-03-001:
Cystopteris protrusa   FAMILY Aspidiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Cystopteris fragilis var. protrusa

SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Cystopteris fragilis var. protrusa

 

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430

Fern/Fern ally
Perennial

Habitat: Rich woods or on moss- and soil-covered talus in boulderfields, occasionally on ledges of rock outcrops, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Mountains of GA & NC, uncommon in SC Mountains & in NC Piedmont (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)

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

LEAVES:
Deciduous
2-pinnate-pinnatifid
Leaves scattered along a creeping rhizome

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer

 

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



 


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