Just wondering if any of you out there have Grape ferns ?? and if so which type do you have, I have two types ( maybee three ) growing in my little area.They are kind of neat...hardly know they are there..
Re:Grape ferns
I will try and post one the pictures of the ferns I am talking about...I think it is a Botrychium disectum...here goes
PAplanter, that looks like a nice plant, does it have any spores? hostajim1
Got me a Botrychium virginianum in a pot inside. Seems happy so far. We'll see. The Ophioglossum's been happy for a good while, at least.
Patrick Alexander
hostajim1 , this is a picture of the same plant above...the leaf has since withered.but a new leaf and a fertile frond has formed. The frond has the clustered spore cases at the top which ripen and fall off.they look like little grapes attached.i also sent this to the fern page under new. hope one of them makes it....Tom.. p.s. paalexan please tell me more about Botrychium Virginianum
Well, all there is to say about the Botrychium virginianum is that I ended up buying it along with plants for a botany lab I was running, from Carolina Biological Supply. Stuck it in a pot, it's been sitting on either a north- or east-facing windowsill since March. It wilted pretty badly the first couple weeks, but now seems established nicely and is just putting out another leaf. I don't know if these guys really need winter. I guess I'll find out.
Patrick Alexander
paalexan, maybee along with your new leaf , a fertile frond will soon appear. they are kind of cool...if you can ever get a picture of it, I would sure like to see it. I would emagine the virgianum variety is evergreen also...is it a lacey leaf or smooth edged type of leaf ?.. I also have one that is called var. obliqum that has much rounder edges on its leaves..anyways thanks for the comeback...I live in a little subdivision that used to have woods on it...so there is a little area on the side of my house that i kind of kept a little woodsy...real tiny...but i find a few things in it from time to time..Mostly stuff sprouts after I dig things up ( like an old tree root ) and disturb the earth...seeds must be hiding there then they sprout...live up here by Lake Erie about 1 1/2 miles from lake....tnx Tom
Well, I've got a few pictures of Botrychium virginianum from Indiana:
http://www.polyploid.net/inplants3/pages/Botrychium_vir.html
This species isn't evergreen, unlike Botrychium dissectum. It also produces spores much earlier in the year. It's also worth mentioning with Botrychium dissectum var. obliquum that if you go out and look at a bunch of populations of Botrychium dissectum you'll see var. dissectum and var. obliquum mixed in together most of the time with lots of plants that are intermediate between the two. There really aren't two forms, just one form with a lot of variation in leaf shape.
Patrick Alexander
PAplanter,
I have this fern, have for a year now and thanks for adding it to the plant files so I could identify it :) How long have you had yours? I rescued them from where they are getting ready to build houses at, found 6 more today and have four planted, I’m finding them where the sun shines most of the day, going to plant one that’s in the sun most of the day and see what happens. Mine is just now starting to turn bronze is yours?
How did you identify it? I looked every where, guess not every where or I would have found it lol
Lea
LeBug, I had mine for about three or so years...course I didn't know what it was at first. I cant remember whether someone told me ( before I posted a picture ) that it could be a grape fern..or whether I looked ( which I do quite often ) at the diff. states ferns and there pictures...sooner or later you run into something like that. If I remember correctly, someone thought it might be a Rattlesnake fern...and when I looked up that , I found similar other ferns, one which was the Botrychium dissectum.
No, my leaves have not started to change color yet. I only have six or so...none of which are located in the sun. and this is the first year that they have put up their fertile frond. they also are a survivor of a housing development that used to be a large wooded lot...so Lea...if you want tell me more...Tom in Pennsylvania
Mine has fertile fronds too that I got from the woods this year and one that I have planted, one that I have planted in my shade garden does not.
My cousin has a fern, thinking it is a type of grape fern also? It's just like this one only about 2 1/2 ' high, a lady brought me a fern just like this (to to trade plants), it died, but I'm thinking it will come back next year, this is what my grape fern did last year, when I planted it it died and came back this year, she got her fern from the woods also and said it was in the sun.
Mine came back up around June sometime? I've never seen a fern come up this late in the year before, I'm going to keep better track of these in the next year and their different stages. I found mine in the sun but there was a lot of leaf mulch and it was moist, we have a lot of caves and springs under ground, there is a spring fed pond about 200 yards from here (up the hill), there is about four acres to this area but the ferns only grow in this one spot, that I have found.
I've been looking for other ferns, with no luck, would love to find this Botrychium virginianum, that Patrick found.
Lea
Lea , Yes I would like to find a Botrychium virginianum like Patrick has also, I noticed on the photos from Indiana that the fronds look very much like mine , but the leaves are quite different.And he said they are not evergreen...I have to watch when I'm cleaning up my patch of little woods , that I dont rake them up ,so I try and mark them or their area with a green bamboo tomato stick.
I should leave most of the leaves...but I have so many that fall and then they blow all over the neighbors lawns ( they dont have trees ) so I cant blame it on somebody else..They are not happy, so I try and pick up most of them just to keep peace. I also have a couple that are withering away and turning yellow ,so I hope they come back next year...Have you had any animals or bugs bother yours ?? I have a few that are getting leaf damage...something is chomping away at them...may be bugs.. Tom
No, don't have any bug problems, I have a dog that keeps getting into my shade garden and doing his business in the middle of my big blue hosta that I am ready to shoot, put a small fence up to try and keep him out and a small fence around my little fern and a few other small plants just planted. LMK if you find this little critter and I'll watch mine...just went out and checked no bugs :)
Lea
LeBug-- should be plenty of Botrychium virginianum down by Greenville; it'll come up in mid-April and pretty much disappear (either died back to the ground, or beaten up & hidden under other stuff) by July. Usually grows scattered throughout upland forest.
Harrison County near you is just about the prettiest area in Indiana, if you ask me... I could tell you a few places near Bloomington where I know Botrychium virginianum grows, but that might not be too useful. A lot of Harrison-Crawford State Forest looked like it oughta be good Botrychium virginianum habitat, but I didn't get to spend much time there. For ferns generally, an excellent area in southern Indiana not far from you is Hemlock Cliffs. Leavenworth Barrens also has some uncommon ferns (walking fern & birds-foot cliff-brake, that I recall).
Patrick Alexander
Well Patrick, you do get around don't you lol I've been to Leavenworth once, I'm a homebody, have been out of the states more than in, need to explore the towns around me, trouble is I have no one to explore with :)
I'll check this out in April but It seems like I've been looking for the grape fern at this time and surely didn't see the Botrychium virginianum or I would have dug it up, I will look more closely next year!
Are you originally from Pa?
Lea
I'm originally from Bloomington; just moved to New Mexico two years ago. By now I've seen a lot more of New Mexico than I ever did of Indiana, though... in Indiana I didn't often go far outside of Bloomington. I had good forest a mile from my apartment, though, so I didn't need to!
Patrick Alexander