Sceptridium biternatum (Savigny) Lyon

Southern Grape Fern; Sparse Lobe Grape Fern

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Southern Grape Fern is a native herbaceous perennial in the Adder's-Tongue family (Ophioglossaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Southern Grape Fern occurs in low woods, in hardwood and pine forests, in fields, and on roadsides. It is a perennial with thick, cord-like roots. The leaves emerge in late summer and persist over winter. The leaves often turn a bronze color in cold weather. Southern Grape Fern usually produces a single leaf composed of a sterile photosynthetic blade (trophophore) and a spore producing segment (sporophore) sharing a common stalk. The trophophore is triangular in outline, leathery, and 2-3 pinnate. The pinnae are lanceolate in outline with serrate margins. The sporophore is elevated above the trophophore and resembles a small cluster of grapes. Southern Grape Fern is a eusporangiate fern. These ferns have sporangia that arise from several epidermal cells and not from a single cell, and the sporangia lack an annulus. The sporangia are typically thicker walled and contain more spores that those of other fern species. The gametophytes of Southern Grape Fern are subterranean and form a relationship with mycorrhizal fungi. Southern Grape Fern leaves are often variable as to the amount of dissection.--A. Diamond

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Native FAC (NWPL)

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