Pelazoneuron kunthii (Desv.) A.R. Sm. & S.E. Fawc.

Southern Shield Fern; Kunth's Maiden Fern; Widespread Maiden Fern

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Widespread Maiden Fern is a native herbaceous perennial in the Marsh Fern family (Thelypteridaceae). In occurs in the southern two-thirds of Alabama with scattered populations northward to the Tennessee border. Widespread Maiden Fern occurs in low woods, along creeks, in wet roadside ditches, and on rocky creek banks. It is a perennial with a creeping rhizome. The leaves (fronds) are erect to arching, ovate in outline, broadest near the base, and once pinnate with lobed pinna. The leaves are deciduous. The petiole is yellow-green in color, about as long as the blade, and pubescent. The pinna lobes are rounded at the apex, and the basal veins from adjacent pinna lobes run to the sinus without joining or joining at the sines. The pinna are lobed ½ to ¾ of their width. The veins are un-forked. The leaf is pubescent with simple hairs, primarily on the veins. Widespread Maiden Fern reproduces by forming spores. The spores are produced in sporangia that are grouped together in clusters known as sori. The sori are located about mid-way between the main vein of the pinna lobes and the margin. The sori are covered with a kidney-shaped pubescent flap of tissue known as the indusium. Widespread Maiden Fern is one of our most common ferns. It is often available from nurseries. It prefers a constantly moist soil and full to partial shade. Widespread Maiden Fern is a vigorous grower under the right conditions, and can become “weedy” in the garden.--A. Diamond

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Native FACW (NWPL)

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