New Ferns and Allies Found in Cornwall in 2022

 I wasn't going to write a blog on ferns, just confining the subject to flowering plants, but then I thought that botany applies to all vascular plants and some of you will be interested in what Cornwall has to offer. There's still lots of ferns here that I haven't yet seen or taken good photos of and some of the following are very common, but not so in north Kent where it's mostly dry and alkaline. As such, many were new to me. So here is a summary of the best new finds from 2022 relating to ferns or horsetails that I found in Cornwall.

The Rustyback Fern was the first fern I found on my very first trip out last February. It was growing on a garden centre wall in Sladesbridge and was a new monad record too. I later found it's uncommon the further west one goes into Cornwall as it doesn't like soils that are too acidic. I guess the lime in the wall mortar though was to its liking. It gets its name from the dense carpets of rust coloured spores that virtually cover all of the underside of the fronds, see 2nd photo below.

Asplenium ceterach

 

 On the same trip I saw some very impressive "shuttlecock" type ferns that grew large impressive fronds out of a single rootstock. I've not been too good on these ferns before, but I decided to study them and work them out. Below is a Golden-scaled Male Fern. It was quite spectacular and they were quite common in the woodland. The stem has rich golden scales that go from the base to the tip and there are black spots where the pinnules join the stem. Whilst related to the more common Male Fern, it is far more attractive.

Dryopteris affinis

Another common fern here is the Soft Shield Fern. Not once did I find this in Kent, though I did find the Hard Shield Fern once. The Soft Shield Fern is delightful; it is delicate and "soft" in outline, and though again it arises in a shuttlecock form it is much less tall and imposing as the Golden Scaled Male Fern above. The easy way to identify these is to look at the little thumb like feature at the base of the pinnules. It sticks out forward more or less parallel to the stem. This feature can be seen at standing height and I can identify it now by simply walking by and noticing those little "thumbs"..

Polystichum setiferum

An attractive small fern that is always found within the salt spray zone here is the Sea Spleenwort. Its attraction is having fleshy bright green fronds. It's small and compact and tucks itself into cliff crevices close to the sea but above the storm high tide mark. The leaves are fleshy being adapted to growing in a high salt environment. This species isn't present in Kent, likely due to there being a lack of habitat for it. Kent is mostly shingle, mud estuary or chalk cliffs fronted by large sea walls. However, here in Cornwall, it finds its niche in the ever eroding natural cliffs found on both coastlines.

Asplenium marinum

I would find Polypody Ferns in Kent but at that time could not identify them for sure. They were unusual to find and a microscope would be needed to firmly identify them to count rings on the mechanism that holds the spores. However, in Cornwall, Polypodies are literally found everywhere. As such, I bought a cheap microscope from a local supermarket and set to work to identify them for sure. The most numerous are Common Polypody and the natural hybrid between that and Southern Polypody called Intermediate Polypody. After checking lots of plants, it's now apparent that a visual check nearly always matches what the microscopic examination would tell me. The fronds below were very large and on checking them microscopically, I confirmed them as that natural hybrid.

Polypodium interjectum

The most impressive fern in the UK in my opinion is the Royal Fern. It can grow to six feet or more and have a similar diameter. I had seen this plant in Kent once before but never "in flower". The spike containing the orange coloured spores rise another two feet above the fern as shown below in an impressive display. For unknown reasons I didn't get my phone out and take a wider angle photo! I'll rectify that next summer. Here it grows on wet heaths and bogs as it grows mostly in permanently damp or wet ground.

Osmundia regalis

After finding the tallest, most impressive fern, I was shown some of the smallest in the UK. On a field trip with the Cornwall Botany Group to The Lizard we were shown the very rare Pillwort. The fern itself comprised of tiny curly strands poking up. These start off green and turn through yellow to rust coloured. As they mature, the spores form in a small sphere or pill shaped sphere, from whence it gets its common name. It was found on heath land near Kynance Cove in dried up puddles and tractor ruts. It's certainly a strange looking plant.

Pilularia globulifera 

The Lizard field trip produced for us another amazing tiny fern (strictly speaking, it's a Lycophyte), the Land Quillwort. Normally one would only see the slender leaves above ground, which look a lot like a young fleshy grass, so would be very easy to miss. Fortunately, this one was kicked up by livestock allowing us to see the plant as a whole. The local experts know that you can replant it  without harming the plant, so this was done before we left. This species is only found in the Channel Islands and on The Lizard in Cornwall.

Isoetes histrix

 

 My last find was again from a field trip and another plant that I would never have found on my own for two reasons. The first is that it was so tiny it blended into the flora around it, much of which was stunted Creeping Willow (Salix repens), so it was almost invisible and took a lot of searching for, even though our guide knew it was there - somewhere! The second reason is that this plant is only found in Cornwall on dunes on an active MOD base, thus there is no access unless previously authorised, as in this case. It's got to be the most attractive Horsetail (in my opinion) given the colours and its delicate nature. In the photo below I placed my hand lens to give you some scale.

Equisetum variegatum

 

That wraps up 2022 for ferns and their allies. I'm glad I have so many more to find though, such as filmy ferns, hybrid Polypodies, Clubmosses and much more. If starting out with ferns there's two books I would recommend to help you get started. Be aware that the best way forward is to take the book into the field and sit down next to a fern and go through the identification step by step. After seeing a few, you get the hang of it, so it's worth persevering.

This book may be out of print, though the Cornwall county Recorder may have a few copies left - see http://www.botanicalcornwall.co.uk/

 

 

 

The Fern Guide is still in print and gives more details to identify UK ferns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next blog will cover a few species of interesting grasses, sedges and rushes that I found in Cornwall in 2022. 

Take care

Dave