categoryZFerns Ferns List 

PARSLEY FERN

Cryptogramma crispa

Parsley Fern Family [Cryptogrammaceae]  
Formerly in: Maidenhair Family [Adiantaceae]


Fronds:
fronds8May fronds8jun fronds8june fronds8jul fronds8july fronds8Aug fronds8sep fronds8sept fronds8Oct fronds8Nov

Spores:
spores8jul spores8july spores8Aug

category
category8Ferns
 
status
statusZnative
 
sex
sexZsterile
barren and fertile fronds

13th June 2014, High House Hut, Seathwaite, Borrowdale. Photo: © RWD
Both barren and female forms intermingled.


13th June 2014, High House Hut, Seathwaite, Borrowdale. Photo: © RWD
The female (fertile) fronds are thinner than the barren fronds.


14th June 2013, Cwm Idwal, North Wales. Photo: © Dawn Nelson
Fertile (thinner) and sterile (barren) fronds together.


19th May 2006, In wall, High Tilberthwaite, Nr Coniston. Photo: © RWD
Barren Fronds are thinner than barren ones mainly because they are curved over underneath.


19th May 2006, In wall, High Tilberthwaite, Nr Coniston. Photo: © RWD
Barren Fronds


19th May 2006, In wall, High Tilberthwaite, Nr Coniston. Photo: © RWD
Barren Fronds


19th May 2006, In wall, High Tilberthwaite, Nr Coniston. Photo: © RWD
Barren Fronds


8th June 2007, Sticks Pass, Greenside Mines, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Barren Fronds


11th June 2004, Kirk Stone, Kirkstone Pass. Photo: © RWD
Fertile Fronds


11th June 2004, Kirk Stone, Kirkstone Pass. Photo: © RWD
Fertile Fronds


11th June 2004, Kirk Stone, Kirkstone Pass. Photo: © RWD
Fertile Fronds


8th June 2007, Sticks Pass, Greenside Mines, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Fertile Fronds


10th July 2009, Seathwaite, Borrowdale, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Fertile fronds & barren fronds side by side showing the colour and shape differences. They can also differ in their pinnateness, the former tending to be +1 pinnate higher.


7th June 2013, Seathwaite, Borrowdale, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Fertile Fronds - the obverse. The spores form inside the curled-up edges.


1st Nov 2013, Tilberthwaite, Little Langdale, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Fertile Fronds - obverse. The sporangia are yellow and mature around mid-summer.

Slight resemblance to : Wall-rue from afar.

Was previously in the Maidenhair Family Family [Adiantaceae] but has now been placed in the Cryptogrammaceae Family, which itself is within the Pteridaceae Family.

It grows mainly in the west of the UK on acidic rocks where the snow can lie until late in the year such as on the sides of granite drystone walls in Cumbria, cliffs, and as a pioneering species on stable scree-slopes and sometimes old mine tailings as long as they are acidic.

The sterile leaves are 2-3 pinnate whereas the fertile fronds are 3-4 pinnate [with 'pinnateness' referring to the number of recursions (aka branches of branches) of the leaflets].


  Cryptogramma crispa  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Cryptogrammaceae/Pteridaceae 

Distribution
family8Parsley fern family8Cryptogrammaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Cryptogramma
Cryptogramma
(Parsley Fern)

PARSLEY FERN

Cryptogramma crispa

Parsley Fern Family [Cryptogrammaceae]  
Formerly in: Maidenhair Family [Adiantaceae]

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