Monilophytes (ferns): Leptosporangiate Ferns (true ferns): Hymenophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Didymoglossum petersii
FAMILY
Hymenophyllaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
See herbarium specimens at the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants
Read about Didymoglossum, Vandenboschia, Crepidomanes, and Trichomanes from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more about Didymoglossum from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
This diminutive species is often overlooked, except by bryologists and hepaticologists; superficially, it does resemble a moss or liverwort more than a fern, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trichomanes petersii
FAMILY
Hymenophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Didymoglossum petersii
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Trichomanes petersii
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 009-01-002:
Trichomanes petersii FAMILY Hymenophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Trichomanes petersii
COMMON NAME:
Dwarf Filmy-fern, Bristle Fern, Peters' Filmy Fern
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Kay Wade kay_ff1
January Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
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Kay Wade kay_ff2_2
January Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Fronds only one cell thick. Long, wiry, wide-spaced hairs along blade edges, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).
)
Kay Wade kay_ff4_2
January Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Stems covered w dark hairs: some 2-celled glandular, some elongate rhizoidlike, per Flora of North America.
)
Kay Wade kay_ff5_2
January Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
Kay Wade kay_ff6_2
January Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm230322_1911
March Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm190423_7644
April Oconee County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Sporangia borne on stalks or bristles projecting from conelike indusia, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
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JK Marlow jkm210615_1371
June Oconee County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Stems long-creeping, threadlike, and intertwining, bearing scattered leaves, per Flora of North America.
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JK Marlow jkm210615_1372
June Oconee County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Leaves elliptic to oblanceolate, simple; petioles nearly as long as blades, per Flora of North America.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Didymoglossum petersii
FAMILY
Hymenophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trichomanes petersii
FAMILY
Hymenophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Didymoglossum petersii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Trichomanes petersii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 009-01-002:
Trichomanes petersii
FAMILY
Hymenophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Trichomanes petersii
1529
Fern/Fern ally
Perennial
Habitat: On vertical faces of acidic rock outcrops in humid gorges (in sw. NC, nw. SC, and ne. GA, primarily of the Savannah River drainage), in the context of the very humid escarpment gorges on relatively dry rocks, not on rocks receiving substantial seepage or spray from waterfalls, also on outcrops of Altamaha Grit in the Coastal Plain, on tree bark (especially Magnolia grandiflora and Fagus grandifolia) in swamps and hammocks (in FL, LA, and MS), and on chert around limestone sinkholes (in FL), per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple - elliptic to oblanceolate
Leaves scattered along a creeping rhizome
FRUIT:
Summer
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986) p076
- Ferns of Alabama (Short & Spaulding, 2012) p179
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p103
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p165
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