filix-femina – filix meaning ‘fern’ and femina meaning ‘woman’ (Latin), as echoed by common name

Native range: Northern hemisphere

Leaves:

• fronds:
  • clustered
  • erect
  • spreading to 2 m. tall
  • narrowly to broadly lance-shaped, tapering at both ends (with a diamond-shaped profile)
  • 2–3 times pinnate
• stipes:
  • short
  • fragile
  • scaly at the base
  • much shorter than the blades
• leaflets (pinna):
  • 20–40 pairs
  • upper and lower ones progressively reduced
  • ultimate segments toothed or lobed

Reproduction:

• alternation of generations
• sori:
  • elongated and curved, oblong to horse-shoe shaped
  • indusium (membrane):
    • also elongate and curved
    • attached on one side with hairs and teeth
    • soon shriveling

Other characteristics:

• deciduous
• rhizomes:
  • stout
  • ascending to erect
  • covered with scales and old leaf stalk bases

Ecology & Adaptations:

• circumboreal
• throughout the PNW
• found in moist to wet forests, swamps, thickets, openings, landslide tracks, stream-banks, gullies, meadows, clearings
• at all elevations
• spores dispersed by wind and water
• vegetative reproduction via rhizomes
• fire tolerant – top-killed by fire, which is typically infrequent (>200 yrs) in this fern’s habitat type, but sprouts from surviving rhizomes
• can survive severe battering if roots are protected and in constant contact with water
• shade tolerant – photosynthesizes effectively at low light levels (low light saturation point)
• adapted to low nutrient conditions – mycorrhizae aid nutrient uptake
• adapted to humid climates – trichomes (hairs or other appendages) on second-order pinnae influence foliar water uptake by keeping rain or condensed fog or dew on the frond surface
• adapted to saturated soils – vegetative reproduction via rhizomes decreases reliance on spores
• herbivore defense – tissues contain filicic acid, which is toxic to worm-like parasites