Compilation
Woodsia glabella

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Name

Identification
Woodsia glabella R.Br. ex Richardson [family DRYOPTERIDACEAE ] (stored under name);
Related name
  • Woodsia hancockii
  • Woodsia glabella
Common name
  • Smooth cliff fern, Flora of North America Vol. 2
  • woodsie glabre, Flora of North America Vol. 2

Flora

Entry for Woodsia glabella R. Brown ex Richardson [family WOODSIACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 2,
Names
Woodsia glabella R. Brown ex Richardson [family WOODSIACEAE], in Franklin,Narr. Journey Polar Sea, 754. 1823
Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray var. glabella (R. Brown ex Richardson) D. C. Eaton [family WOODSIACEAE]
Woodsia hyperborea (Liljeblad) R. Brown ex Richardson var. glabella (Richardson) Watt [family WOODSIACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
Michael D. Windham
Information
Stems compact, erect to ascending, with cluster of persistent petiole bases of ± equal length; scales uniformly brown, lanceolate. Leaves 3.5--15 × 0.5--1.2 cm. Petiole green or straw-colored throughout, articulate above base at swollen node, somewhat pliable and resistant to shattering. Blade linear to linear-lanceolate, pinnate-pinnatifid proximally, glabrous or with occasional sessile glands, never viscid; rachis glabrous. Proximal pinnae fan-shaped, wider than long; distal pinnae ovate-lanceolate, longer than wide, abruptly tapered to a rounded or broadly acute apex; largest pinnae with 1--3 pairs of pinnules, abaxial and adaxial surfaces glabrous. Pinnules entire or broadly crenate; margins nonlustrous, thin, lacking cilia or translucent projections. Vein tips slightly (if at all) enlarged, barely visible adaxially . Indusia of narrow hairlike segments, these uniseriate throughout, composed of cells many times longer than wide, usually surpassing mature sporangia. Spores averaging 39--45 µm. 2 n = 78.
Phenology
Sporulating summer--early fall
Altitude range
0--1500 m
Distribution
Greenlandn Eurasia.USA AlaskaUSA MaineUSA Minn.USA N.H.USA N.Y.USA Vt.Canada Alta.Canada B.C.Canada Man.Canada N.B.Canada Nfld.Canada N.W.T.Canada N.S.Canada Ont.Canada Que.Canada Sask.Canada Yukon
Discussion
Woodsia glabella is a well-marked species occasionally confused with narrow, glabrescent forms of W . alpina and W . oregana subsp. oregana . These taxa are readily distinguished from W . glabella by their petioles, which are reddish brown or dark purple near the base.

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