Walking Fern - 100 Plants

Walking Fern

The Walking Fern is a member of the Aspleniaceae family and is characterized as a small tuff with simple leaves. This perennial plant comprises lanceolate leaf blades ranging from 2 to 12 inches long and has a width between 1/4 and 2 inches. They have distinctively slender bodies with prominent tips.

Each blade starts with an auriculate or cordate pubescent base of a pale green hue. This extends into a relatively smooth margin with the slight undulation of the leaf's blade. The uppermost surface of this plant's blade is dark to medium green and free from any fuzzy hair follicles. The entire surface of the leaf blade is covered with a massive network of veins.

Its thin stripes grow between one-quarter of an inch and four inches in length. At their base, these stipes brandish a brownish hue that transitions to bright green when it joins the blade. Younger leaf blades will grow in a horizontal fashion close to the ground. Older leaf blades will grow in a more arching manner. This low-lying plant has a fibrous root system consisting of a short rhizomatous crown.

Walking Ferns Creeps Alongside The Soil

It produces both fertile and infertile leaf blades, which appear similarly. However, fertile leaves tend to be slightly larger. Spore-boring structures known as sori can be found on the underside of the fertile leaf blades.

These are characterized as irregularly scattered elongated shapes with laterally attached protective membranes known as indusium. When they mature, these spores start with a distinctive yellow hue and turn to a deeper reddish-brown color. The translucent indusium tissue fades, and the spores are ready to propagate. During the late summer to early fall, these spores are released into the wind for natural propagation.

Native to eastern Canada and the United States, this evergreen fern flourishes in moist and shady environments. It may be referred to as Asplenium Rhizophyllum, North American Walking Fern, Camptosorus Rhizophyllus, or Adiantum. This small perennial plant makes ideal ground foliage for shady garden areas and sloped surfaces where erosion control may be a top concern.

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