Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


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Southern Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Japanese Climbing Fern
Lygodium japonicum (Thunb.) Sw.

JPG -- Species Photo GIF -- Distribution Map

Family: Curly-grass (Schizaeaceae)
Spores: June-September
Field Marks: The genus Lygodium consists of viny ferns with palmately or pinnately compound leaves. Japanese climbing fern has pinnately divided leaves.
Habitat: Low woods, thickets, along rivers and streams.
Habit: Climbing or twining perennial fern, sometimes forming vine-like clumps, with slender, creeping rhizomes.
Stems: Climbing or twining, slender, from several to many feet long.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound, up to 8 inches long, the leaflets triangular-lanceolate, pointed at the tip, the fertile segments sometimes deeply cleft, with sporangia in double rows.
Notes: The similar native climbing fern (L. palmatum) has palmately compound leaves.

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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:18:03 EST
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