Monilophytes (ferns): Leptosporangiate Ferns (true ferns): Osmundales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Claytosmunda claytoniana
FAMILY
Osmundaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read about Osmundastrum and Osmunda from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more about Interrupted Fern from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Osmunda claytoniana
FAMILY
Osmundaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Osmundastrum claytonianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Osmunda claytoniana
SYNONYMOUS WITH A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns (Schuettpelz et al., 2016)
Claytosmunda claytoniana
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 007-01-002:
Osmunda claytoniana FAMILY Osmundaceae
INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Osmunda claytoniana var. claytoniana
SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Osmunda claytoniana
COMMON NAME:
Interrupted Fern
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
How to Know the Ferns (Parsons, 1899) htktf_interruptedfern
Fertile fronds leaflike above and below, fruit-bearing in the middle, per How to Know the Ferns (Parsons, 1899).
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_oscl2_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_oscl2_004_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm080421_062064
April Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
Emily B. Sessa ebsoclaytonia_9176
May
)
Emily B. Sessa ebsoclaytonia_9190
May
Fertile pinnae in the middle of otherwise typical vegetative leaves, per Ferns of the Smokies (Evans, 2005).
)
Emily B. Sessa ebsoclaytonia_9193
May
)
Emily B. Sessa ebsoclaytonia_9194
May
)
Emily B. Sessa ebsoclaytonia_9204
May
)
Emily B. Sessa ebsoclaytonia_9259
May
)
JK Marlow jkm0305r_12
May Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm0505i_33
May Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm120505_004
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
Lobes of vegetative leaflets rounded (vs. slightly pointed in cinnamon fern, per Ferns of the Smokies (Evans, 2005).
COMPARE
pinnae of Cinnamon and Interrupted Fern
)
JK Marlow jkm120505_007
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
Few or no hairs at base of pinna, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
COMPARE
armpits of Cinnamon and Interrupted Fern
)
JK Marlow jkm120505_009
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
Fronds 1-5' long. Fertile blades interrupted by 2-5 pairs of fertile pinnae, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm120505_327
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
The collar at the base of the pinna is not fuzzy like Cinnamon Fern's is, per Ferns of the Smokies (Evans, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm080705_133
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm080705_142
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm150827_951
August Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm090926_031
September Hancock County ME
Used here as an attractive landscape plant.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Claytosmunda claytoniana
FAMILY
Osmundaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Osmunda claytoniana
FAMILY
Osmundaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Osmundastrum claytonianum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Osmunda claytoniana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns (Schuettpelz et al., 2016)
Claytosmunda claytoniana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 007-01-002:
Osmunda claytoniana
FAMILY
Osmundaceae
INCLUDING
Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Osmunda claytoniana var. claytoniana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Osmunda claytoniana
997
Fern/Fern ally
Perennial
Habitat: Upland forests, woodlands, and balds, moist to rather dry, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains of GA & NC (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
1-pinnate-pinnatifid
Leaves erect in a dense crown
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986) p036
- Ferns of Alabama (Short & Spaulding, 2012) p143
- Ferns of the Smokies (Evans, 2005) p44
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p201
- Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America p174
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p413
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".