''Amauropelta noveboracensis'', the New York fern, is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

species of

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

found throughout the eastern United States and Canada, from Louisiana to Newfoundland, but most concentrated within

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

and the

Atlantic Northeast The Atlantic Northeast () is a geographic and cultural region of eastern North America bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and (loosely) by the Saint Lawrence River to the northwest. Though no official boundary exists, the most common conce ...

. New York ferns often forms spreading colonies within the forests they inhabit.

Description

This fern grows in clumps of three or more fronds along a dark brown, slightly scaly

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

. The frond is held on a stipe which is 20% of the length of the leaf and brown at the base but becoming green as it approaches the leaflets. The stipe is typically covered in brown scales at the base and finely hairy farther up. The leaf is overall long, yellow-green, rather soft and thin in texture, and tapers at either end with the lowest 4-10 leaflets being generally smaller than those above. The leaf is divided into approximately 20

pinnae Pinna may refer to: Biology * Pinna (anatomy), or auricle, the outer part of the ear * ''Pinna'' (bivalve), a genus of molluscs * Pinna (botany), a primary segment of a compound leaf People Surname * Christophe Pinna (born 1968), French marti ...

or leaflets, these leaflets are deeply cut into smaller, oblong and rounded subleaflets. It produces both fertile and sterile fronds—the fertile fronds are larger and more upright, and produce a few small, round sori near the margins, but not touching the margins, of the pinnae. These sori are covered by a tan, hairy, kidney-shaped

indusium A sorus (: sori) is a cluster of sporangia (structures producing and containing spores) in ferns and fungi. A coenosorus (: coenosori) is a compound sorus composed of multiple, fused sori. Etymology This Neo-Latin word is from Ancient Greek � ...

. It is distinctive by its pinnae tapering to the base of the frond, and by its forming extensive clonal colonies on ridgetops and mountain benches. The only other native species in this area with similarly tapering pinnae is the

ostrich fern ''Matteuccia'' is a genus of ferns with one species: ''Matteuccia struthiopteris'' (common names ostrich fern, fiddlehead fern, or shuttlecock fern). The species epithet ''struthiopteris'' comes from Ancient Greek words () "ostrich" and () "fer ...

, which generally grows in

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

habitats and is much taller (up to ). The only other species that forms as extensive clonal colonies is the hay-scented fern. Unlike the hay-scented fern, New York fern grows along a dark brown, slightly scaly trailing

s, for comparison, hay-scented fern grows along a smooth rhizome with only one frond arising at a node. Hay-scented fern also has leaflets which are much more finely cut or jagged on the edges whereas New York fern typically has smooth rounded edges to its leaflets. File:Thelypteris noveboracensis34.jpg, Showing leaflet structure File:New york fern 01.jpg, Showing the colonial habit

Ecology

New York fern is common in sunny patches caused by canopy gaps in mixed woodlands, near vernal seeps, at the edge of swamps, in wooded ravines, and along streams. Once soil pH levels decline below 4.1, this fern can become a dominant understory species. In such situations, it may out-compete the seedlings of certain tree species, some of which are commercially important. The seedlings of ''

Prunus serotina ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub in the r ...

'' are especially vulnerable, as the fern releases an

allelopathic Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms. These biochemicals are known as allelochemicals and can have ben ...

phenol Phenol (also known as carbolic acid, phenolic acid, or benzenol) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile and can catch fire. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...

which can kill them. This fern is a wetland indicator, and an endangered species in Illinois.

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q15345649, from2=Q7781153, from3=Q21877109 Thelypteridaceae Flora of the United States Flora of Canada Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus