Monilophytes (ferns): Leptosporangiate Ferns (true ferns): Polypodiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
FAMILY
Woodsiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
See herbarium specimens at the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants.
Separation of the three Woodsia species, as well as the several Cystopteris species, can be quite difficult without a hand lens. Learn more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Most ferns that grow on rocks are specific either to acidic rocks or to alkaline calcareous rocks. Woodsia obtusa is unusual in that it is frequently found on both, as well as also in soil. Read more in Ferns of Alabama.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
FAMILY
Dryopteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
SYNONYMOUS WITH The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014)
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 011-02-003:
Woodsia obtusa FAMILY Aspidiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Woodsia obtusa
COMMON NAME:
Blunt-lobed Cliff Fern, Common Woodsia
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm230328_2119
March Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230328_2121
March Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Leaves 1-pinnate with deeply lobed leaflets, may be 2-pinnate at base, per Ferns of Alabama (Short & Spaulding, 2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm230328_2180
March Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Stipe with conspicuous light brown scales. Rachis slightly scaly, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).
)
JK Marlow jkm230328_2182
March Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Resembles some Cystopteris but has numerous scales on the leaf stalk and star-shaped indusia, per Ferns of Alabama (Short & Spaulding, 2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm230418_2622
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmwobtusa_home1
April Anderson County SC
Blade lanceolate, cut into widely spaced pinnae at right angles to rachis, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
FAMILY
Woodsiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
FAMILY
Dryopteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
SYNONYMOUS WITH
The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014)
Woodsia obtusa ssp. obtusa
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 011-02-003:
Woodsia obtusa
FAMILY
Aspidiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Woodsia obtusa
1676
Fern/Fern ally
Perennial
Habitat: rock outcrops of various sorts, moist talus, terrestrial near rock outcrops, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Coastal Plain)
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:
Semi-evergreen
1-pinnate-pinnatifid to 2-pinnate-pinnatifid
Leaves clustered from a rhizome with a few old petiole bases of various lengths
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
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) p128
- The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014) p310
- Ferns of Alabama (Short & Spaulding, 2012) p257
- Ferns of the Smokies (Evans, 2005) p72
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p203
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p098
- Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America p232
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops (Murdy & Carter, 2000) p94
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".