Dryopteris erythrosora (D.C. Eaton) Kuntze

Autumn Fern; Japanese Wood Fern

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Autumn Fern is an introduced evergreen perennial in the Wood Fern family (Dryopteridaceae). It is native to China, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines. It has been reported as an escape from scattered locations across Alabama. Autumn Fern grows in moist to mesic forests, disturbed urban woodlots, on roadside banks, and under bridges. Autumn Fern is a perennial from an ascending rhizome. The leaves (fronds) are not dimorphic (of two shapes). Young leaves are orange-red to copper in color, becoming deep green with age. The leaves are oblong-lanceolate in outline, lack glands, and are bi-pinnate. The pinnae are lanceolate in outline with serrate margins. The lower portion of the rachis (stalk of the leaf) is covered in papery scales. These scales are chestnut brown in color with a brown margin. Autumn Fern reproduces by forming spores in sporangia. The sporangia are grouped in round clusters (sori) on the underside of the leaf. The sori are located nearer the midrib than the margin. The sori are covered by a kidney-shaped indusium that has a reddish center and pale brown edge. Autumn Fern is widely available from nurseries. It can tolerate a drier soil than most ferns.—A. Diamond

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Not Native

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