Compilation
Woodsia hyperborea

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Name

Identification
Woodsia hyperborea R.Br. [family DRYOPTERIDACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Not on sheet, Polypodium arvonicum Wither. [family POLYPODIACEAE ] Verified by Smith, Sir James Edward,
Related name
  • Acrostichum alpinum
  • Woodsia hyperborea
  • Acrostichum ilvense
  • Polypodium arvonicum
  • Polypodium hyperboreum
  • Woodsia oregana
Common name
  • Smooth cliff fern, Flora of North America Vol. 2
  • woodsie glabre, Flora of North America Vol. 2
  • woodsie alpine, Flora of North America Vol. 2
  • Alpine cliff fern, Flora of North America Vol. 2

Flora

Entry for Woodsia alpina (Bolton) Gray [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 alpina (Bolton) Gray [family WOODSIACEAE], Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl., 2: 17. 1821
Acrostichum alpinum Bolton [family PTERIDACEAE], Fil. Brit., 2: 76, plate 42. 1790
Woodsia alpina var. bellii Lawson [family WOODSIACEAE]
Woodsia bellii (Lawson) Porsild [family WOODSIACEAE]
Woodsia hyperborea (Liljeblad) R. Brown [family WOODSIACEAE]
Woodsia ilvensis (Linnaeus) R. Brown var. alpina (Bolton) 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 2.5--20 × 0.5--2.5 cm. Petiole reddish brown or dark purple when mature, articulate above base at swollen node, relatively brittle and easily shattered. Blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, usually pinnate-pinnatifid proximally, lacking glands, never viscid; rachis with widely scattered hairs and scales. Pinnae ovate-lanceolate to deltate, longer than wide, abruptly tapered to a rounded or broadly acute apex; largest pinnae with 1--3 pairs of pinnules; abaxial surface with isolated hairs and linear scales, adaxial surface glabrous. Pinnules entire or broadly crenate; margins nonlustrous, thin, with occasional isolated cilia, lacking translucent projections. Vein tips often enlarged to form whitish hydathodes visible adaxially . Indusia of narrow, hairlike segments, these uniseriate throughout, composed of cells many times longer than wide, usually surpassing mature sporangia. Spores averaging 46--53 µm.
Phenology
Sporulating summer--early fall
Altitude range
0--1500 m
Distribution
Greenlandn Eurasia.USA AlaskaUSA MaineUSA Mich.USA Minn.USA N.H.USA N.Y.USA Vt.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
Isozyme studies confirm the longstanding hypothesis that Woodsia alpina is an allotetraploid derived from hybridization between W . glabella and W . ilvensis (see reticulogram). Considerable disagreement exists concerning the chromosome number of W . alpina , but 2 n = 160 seems most likely, given the numbers reported for the two parental species. Hybrids between W . alpina and W . ilvensis have been reported from both Europe and North America. These morphologically intermediate triploids with malformed spores have been called W . × gracilis (Lawson) Butters.

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