After a short lesson on fern identification, Lis Allison led us to 16 species of fern on our Sunday afternoon walk. This is a very good species count and on our very own trail! We learned some easy ways to ID each species and we also learned how variable and tricky these plants can be. One of the very special ferns on the trail is the Walking Fern which loves to grow on the exposed Precambrian marble on a little escarpment at one point along the trail.
Below is the list compiled by Lis with pictures from Janet Mason.
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Ferns and Allies Seen at Macnamara Trail, July 3, 2016 |
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| Common Name | Botanical Name | Comment |
| Bracken | Pteridium aquilinum | |
| Northern Lady Fern | Athyrium angustum | |
| Sensitive Fern | Onoclea sensibilis | |
| Cinnamon Fern | Osmundastrum cinnamomeum | |
| Oak Fern | Gymnocarpium dryopteroides | |
| Marsh Fern | Thelypteris palustris | |
| Bulblet Fern | Cystopteris bulbifera | |
| Royal Fern | Osmunda regalis | |
| Narrow Beech Fern | Phegopteris connectilis | |
| Spinulose Wood Fern | Dryopteris carthusiana | |
| Evergreen Wood Fern | Dryopteris intermedia | |
| Marginal Wood Fern | Dryopteris marginalis | |
| Crested Fern | Dryopteris cristata | |
| Clinton’s Fern, possibly | Dryopteris clintoniana | possible an immature Crested |
| Walking Fern | Asplenium rhizophyllum | |
| Maidenhair | Adiantum pedatum | |
| Christmas Fern | Polystichum acrostichoides | Not seen on the walk but has been observed on the trail |
| Allies | ||
| Southern Ground Cedar | Diphasiastrum digitatum | Clubmoss |
| Scouring Rush | Equisetum hyemale | Horsetail |
| Dwarf Scouring Rush | Equisetum scirpoides | Horsetail |
| Woodland Horsetail | Equisetum sylvaticum | Horsetail |
| Field Horsetail | Equisetum arvense | Horsetail |
