Woodsia oregana

Oregon Woodsia

Oregon Woodsia
Photo courtesy of John Game

Flora, fauna, earth, and sky...
The natural history of the northwoods

Name:

• Woodsia, for English botanist Joseph Woods (1776-1864).
• oregana, from the Latin, "of Oregon"
• Common name from its largely western distrbution. Somewhat ironically, the range of our subspecies, Woodsia oregana ssp. cathcartiana, does not extend to Oregon.
• Other common names include Western Cliff Fern, Oregon Cliff Fern, Cathcart's Cliff Fern, Woodsie de l'Oregon (Qué)

Taxonomy:

• Kingdom Plantae, the Plants
  • Division Polypodiophyta, the True Ferns
    • Class Filicopsida
      • Order Polypodiales
        • Family Dryopteridaceae, the Wood Ferns
          • Genus Woodsia, the Cliff Ferns
• Taxonomic Serial Number: 17745

Description:

• A small fern of rocky places, rare in our area.
• Fronds 1½"-9¾"× ½"-1½"
  • Petiole (leaf stalk) reddish brown to dark purple toward the base when mature, not segmented above base, somewhat pliable and resistant to shattering.
  • Blade linear-lanceolate to narrowly ovate, pinnate-pinnatifid or 2-pinnate proximally, sparsely to moderately glandular; glandular hairs with thin stalks and slightly expanded tips; rachis with scattered glandular hairs and occasional hairlike scales.
  • Pinnae (primary leaflets) longer than wide, abruptly tapered to a rounded or broadly pointed tip; largest pinnae with 3-9 pairs of pinnules; both surfaces smooth to moderately glandular, lacking nonglandular hairs or scales.
  • Pinnules (secondary leaflets) toothed, often shallowly lobed with thin margins lacking cilia. Vein tips slightly (if at all) enlarged, barely visible on upper surface.
  • Indusia of narrow, usually filamentous segments.
• Rootstalk compact, erect to ascending, with few to many persistent petiole bases of unequal lengths; scales often uniformly brown but at least some bicolored with dark central stripe and pale brown margins, narrowly lanceolate.

Identification:

• Identifiable as Woodsia by
  • relatively small size for our area
  • affinity for rocky habitats
  • twice-cut fronds
• Distinguished from
  • Smooth Woodsia (Woodsia glabella) by its hairs and scales
  • Alpine Woodsia (Woodsia alpina) and Rusty Woodsia (Woodsia ilvensis), by its unarticulated leaf stalk (petiole) and toothed leaf edges.
  • Rocky Mountain Woodsia (Woodsia scopulina) by its lack of a concentration of hairs along the midrib and by its mature leafstalks, which are often light brown to straw-colored and though occasionally reddish brown to dark purple they remain much more pliable than the leafstalks of the Rocky Mountain Woodsia, and resistant to shattering.
• Field Marks
  • hairs and scales on fronds and leafstalks
  • absence of stem segmentation or articulation
  • color of mature leaf stalk

Distribution:

• Montana, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, south to Idaho, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Also New York.

Habitat:

Fire:

Associates:

History:

Uses:

Reproduction:

• By spore

Propagation:

• By spore; difficult.

Cultivation:

• Hardy to USDA Zone 3 (average minimum annual temperature -40ºF)
• Generally not available commercially.

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