Monilophytes (ferns): Leptosporangiate Ferns (true ferns): Polypodiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Vittaria appalachiana
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Vittaria appalachiana has the appearance of a liverwort, with a branched pattern of tape-like green strips, one cell thick. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
A gametophytic species, reproducing vegetatively by gemmae, having lost the capability of producing sporophytes. Read more in Weakley's Flora.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Vittaria appalachiana
FAMILY
Vittariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Vittaria appalachiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 2 (1993)
Vittaria appalachiana
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 010?:
Vittaria - "a branching, ribbon-like gametophyte, with diffuse rhizoids and linear-shaped gemmae only one cell wide, of the genus Vittaria" FAMILY ?
COMMON NAME:
Appalachian Shoestring Fern, "Appalachian gametophyte"
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Stephanie C. Brundage scb_091621gsmnp048rw2
September Swain County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Samantha Tessel sam101721_4353
October Pickens County SC
Eastatoe Creek Heritage Preserve
A ribbon-like thallus one cell thick, usually with basal & upright branches, per Vittaria appalachiana: a name for the "Appalachian Gametophyte" (Farrar & Mickel, 1991).
)
Samantha Tessel sam113022_0819
November Greenville County SC
Jones Gap State Park
)
Samantha Tessel sam113022_0820
November Greenville County SC
Jones Gap State Park
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Vittaria appalachiana
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Vittaria appalachiana
FAMILY
Vittariaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Vittaria appalachiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 2
Vittaria appalachiana
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 010?:
Vittaria - "a branching, ribbon-like gametophyte, with diffuse rhizoids and linear-shaped gemmae only one cell wide, of the genus Vittaria"
FAMILY
?
4482
Fern/Fern ally
Perennial
Habitat: Shaded grottoes, undersides of overhanging rock outcrops, especially in moist gorges or on spray cliffs in the vicinity of waterfalls, usually on felsic metamorphic rocks, such as mica schist, mica gneiss, granite gneiss, or metaquartzite, or on sandstone, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon in Mountains, rare elsewhere
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
A branched, ribbon-like thallus one cell in thickness, usually differentiated into basal and upright branches
FRUIT:
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Ferns of Alabama (Short & Spaulding, 2012) p173
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p165
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".