NameThatPlant.net: Ophioglossum petiolatum

Monilophytes (ferns): Ophioglossoid Ferns (eusporangiate ferns): Ophioglossales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Ophioglossum petiolatum FAMILY Ophioglossaceae

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Learn more about Ophioglossum from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ophioglossum petiolatum FAMILY Ophioglossaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 006-02-003:
Ophioglossum petiolatum FAMILY Ophioglossaceae

COMMON NAME:
Longstem Adder's-tongue, Stalked Adder's-tongue Fern, Longstem Adder's-tongue

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Ophioglossum petiolatum, Longstem Adder's-tongue, Stalked Adder's-tongue Fern, Longstem Adder's-tongue

JK Marlow jkm100313_164

March Gadsden County FL

Angus Gholson Nature Park

Keith Bradley kab_o_petiolatum_06377

March Collier County FL

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

Lance-shaped blade abruptly expands from a short stalk and tapers upward, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia.

COMPARE Adder's Mouth and Adder's Tongue

Keith Bradley kab_o_petiolatum_70199

July Collier County FL

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park

Beadlike sporangia in a 1-4cm spike atop a 3-11cm stipe, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia.

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Ophioglossum petiolatum FAMILY Ophioglossaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ophioglossum petiolatum FAMILY Ophioglossaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 006-02-003:
Ophioglossum petiolatum FAMILY Ophioglossaceae

3423

Fern/Fern ally
Perennial

Non-native? Asia

Documented growing wild in GA NC SC

Rare or overlooked north of Georgia

Look for it in maritime wet grasslands, moist ditch banks, and grassy roadside flats, per Weakley's Flora

map
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,

or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Leaf consists of a simple sterile blade & an erect, spike-like fertile segment

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed -- chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides, branching horns, or magnificent bole backbones. Few that fell trees plant them; nor would planting avail much towards getting back anything like the noble primeval forests. ... It took more than three thousand years to make some of the trees in these Western woods -- trees that are still standing in perfect strength and beauty, waving and singing in the mighty forests of the Sierra. Through all the wonderful, eventful centuries ... God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools -- only Uncle Sam can do that." — John Muir