Monilophytes (ferns): Leptosporangiate Ferns (true ferns): Polypodiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pteridium latiusculum
FAMILY
Dennstaedtiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read random thoughts and musings about Bracken from George Ellison and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
The long-known Pteridium aquilinum has been split, controversally, into two species in recent years. However, the distributions of P. latiusculum and P. pseudocaudatum are not yet resolved in NC. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum
FAMILY
Dennstaedtiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 010-05-001:
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum FAMILY Pteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Pteris latiuscula var. latiuscula
COMMON NAME:
Eastern Bracken, Brake
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_009
Image of Pteridium aquilinum "in the broad sense", including var. latiusculum & var. pseudocaudatum.
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JK Marlow jkm150424_721
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Terminal (caudate) tip of basalmost pinnule of basal pinna avg 12% (3-28%) of entire pinnule, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
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Emily B. Sessa ebspaquilinum_9374
May
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Emily B. Sessa ebspaquilinum_9377
May
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Emily B. Sessa ebspaquilinum_9396
May
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JK Marlow jkm0205cb_10a
May Greenville County SC
Blade broadly triangular, divided into 3 nearly equal parts, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
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JK Marlow jkm080505_044b
May Spartanburg County SC
Chinquapin Greenway
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JK Marlow jkm120505_168
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
In crosier form, 3 sections of frond uncoil like an eagle's claw opening, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
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Emily B. Sessa ebspaquilinum_1747
July
Blade reflexed almost to the horizontal (parallel to ground), per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
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Emily B. Sessa ebspaquilinum_1770
July
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JK Marlow jkm0511a_18
November Haywood County NC
Turns brown in autumn, but does not wither away until following year, per How to Know the Ferns (Parsons, 1899).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pteridium latiusculum
FAMILY
Dennstaedtiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum
FAMILY
Dennstaedtiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 010-05-001:
Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum
FAMILY
Pteridaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Pteris latiuscula var. latiuscula
1169
Fern/Fern ally
Perennial
Habitat: Mainly in dry woodlands, forests, and heath balds, up to 1600 m in elevation, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
2-pinnate-pinnatifid to 3-pinnate
Leaves widely spaced along a creeping subterranean rhizome
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986) p072
- Ferns of Alabama (Short & Spaulding, 2012) p187
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p414
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p124
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p240
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p355
- Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America p204
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p432
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