Irish wildflowers Sitemap More: Ferns

Hard Fern, Blechnum spicant

Hard Fern
Blechnum spicant
Raithneach chrua
Family: Blechnaceae

Spores ripen June-August. Evergreen sterile fronds. Native.

Sterile outer fronds form spreading rosettes, remaining green
through winter. Segments close together. 10-40cm long.
Narrower, longer-stalked, erect fertile fronds, die back in winter. Wider spaced segments, but not always present. 15-75cm long.
Elongated sori covering undersides of fertile fronds.

Damp, acidic heaths, woods, rocks, hedgebanks.
Very frequent but has declined in central Ireland.

Illustrated below: Left: Fertile fronds, right: sterile fronds


     


     
Hard Fern

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