This page's list covers the ferns and allies (Lycopodiopsida, Equisetopsida and Pteridopsida) found in Great Britain and Ireland. For the background to this list see parent article List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland.
Status key: * indicates an introduced species and e indicates an extinct species.
Class Lycopodiopsida edit
Order Lycopodiales edit
Family Lycopodiaceae (clubmosses) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Alpine clubmoss | Diphasiastrum alpinum | |
Issler's clubmoss | Diphasiastrum × issleri | |
Fir clubmoss | Huperzia selago | |
Stag's-horn clubmoss | Lycopodium clavatum | |
Marsh clubmoss | Lycopodiella inundata | |
Interrupted clubmoss | Spinulum annotinum |
Order Selaginellales edit
Family Selaginellaceae (spikemosses) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Krauss's clubmoss | Selaginella kraussiana | * |
Lesser clubmoss | Selaginella selaginoides |
Order Isoetales edit
Family Isoetaceae (quillworts) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Spring quillwort | Isoetes echinospora | |
Land quillwort | Isoetes histrix | |
Quillwort | Isoetes lacustris |
Class Polypodiopsida (ferns) edit
Order Equisetales edit
Family Equisetaceae (horsetails) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Field horsetail | Equisetum arvense | |
Water horsetail | Equisetum fluviatile | |
Rough horsetail | Equisetum hyemale | |
Marsh horsetail | Equisetum palustre | |
Shady horsetail | Equisetum pratense | |
Branched horsetail | Equisetum ramosissimum | * |
Wood horsetail | Equisetum sylvaticum | |
Great horsetail | Equisetum telmateia | |
Variegated horsetail | Equisetum variegatum |
Order Ophioglossales edit
Family Ophioglossaceae (adder's-tongues) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Moonwort | Botrychium lunaria | |
Small adder's-tongue | Ophioglossum azoricum | |
Least adder's-tongue | Ophioglossum lusitanicum | |
Southern adder's-tongue | Ophioglossum vulgatum |
Order Osmundales edit
Family Osmundaceae (royal ferns) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Royal fern | Osmunda regalis |
Order Polypodiales (polypod ferns, cathetogyrates) edit
Family Pteridaceae (maidenhair fern family) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Maidenhair fern | Adiantum capillus-veneris | |
Parsley fern | Cryptogramma crispa | |
Ribbon fern | Pteris cretica | * |
Family Hymenophyllaceae (filmy ferns, bristle ferns) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Tunbridge filmy-fern | Hymenophyllum tunbrigense | |
Wilson's filmy-fern | Hymenophyllum wilsonii | |
Killarney fern | Vandenboschia speciosa |
Family Polypodiaceae edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Southern polypody | Polypodium cambricum | |
Intermediate polypody | Polypodium interjectum | |
Polypody | Polypodium vulgare | |
Kangaroo fern | Zealandia pustulata | * |
Family Dennstaedtiaceae (bracken family) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Bracken | Pteridium aquilinum |
Family Thelypteridaceae (marsh ferns) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Beech fern | Phegopteris connectilis | |
Lemon-scented fern | Thelypteris limbosperma | |
Marsh fern | Thelypteris palustris |
Family Aspleniaceae (spleenworts) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Black spleenwort | Asplenium adiantum-nigrum | |
Rustyback | Asplenium ceterach | |
Sea spleenwort | Asplenium marinum | |
Lanceolate spleenwort | Asplenium obovatum | |
Irish spleenwort | Asplenium onopteris | |
Wall-rue | Asplenium ruta-muraria | |
Hart's-tongue | Asplenium scolopendrium | |
Forked spleenwort | Asplenium septentrionale | |
Maidenhair spleenwort | Asplenium trichomanes | |
Green spleenwort | Asplenium viride |
Family Woodsiaceae (cliff ferns) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Alpine lady-fern | Athyrium distentifolium | |
Lady-fern | Athyrium filix-femina | |
Newman's lady-fern | Athyrium flexile | |
Dickie's bladder-fern | Cystopteris dickieana | |
Brittle bladder-fern | Cystopteris fragilis | |
Mountain bladder-fern | Cystopteris montana | |
Oak fern | Gymnocarpium dryopteris | |
Limestone fern | Gymnocarpium robertianum | |
Ostrich fern | Matteuccia struthiopteris | * |
Sensitive fern | Onoclea sensibilis | * |
Alpine woodsia | Woodsia alpina | |
Oblong woodsia | Woodsia ilvensis |
Family Dryopteridaceae (wood ferns) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
House holly-fern | Cyrtomium falcatum | * |
Hay-scented buckler-fern | Dryopteris aemula | |
Scaly male-fern | Dryopteris affinis | |
Narrow buckler-fern | Dryopteris carthusiana | |
Crested buckler-fern | Dryopteris cristata | |
Broad buckler-fern | Dryopteris dilatata | |
Northern buckler-fern | Dryopteris expansa | |
Male-fern | Dryopteris filix-mas | |
Rigid buckler-fern | Dryopteris mindshelkensis | |
Mountain male-fern | Dryopteris oreades | |
Scaly buckler-fern | Dryopteris remota | e |
Hard shield fern | Polystichum aculeatum | |
Holly fern | Polystichum lonchitis | |
Soft shield fern | Polystichum setiferum |
Order Salviniales edit
Family Marsileaceae (pepperworts) edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Pillwort | Pilularia globulifera |
Family Salviniaceae edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Water fern | Azolla filiculoides | * |
Order Cyatheales (tree ferns etc.) edit
Family Dicksoniaceae edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Australian tree-fern | Dicksonia antarctica | * |
Family Blechnaceae edit
English name | Scientific name | Status |
---|---|---|
Chilean hard-fern | Parablechnum cordatum | * |
Hard-fern | Struthiopteris spicant |
See also edit
Notes edit
- Jersey fern (Anogramma leptophylla) is present in the Channel Islands as a native species, but does not occur in Britain or Ireland.
- Irish spleenwort (Asplenium onopteris) is native only to Ireland; it is represented in Britain only by an introduced population in North Wales.
External links edit
- Media related to The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland, Thomas Moore at Wikimedia Commons
- Media related to British Ferns and their Varieties (1912), color images at Wikimedia Commons
- Media related to Our native ferns, or, A history of the British species and their varieties at Wikimedia Commons