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Cystopteris laurentiana

(Weatherby) Blasdell

Laurentian Bladderfern

G3Vulnerable Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G3VulnerableGlobal Rank
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.134441
Element CodePPDRY07040
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumFilicinophyta
ClassFilicopsida
OrderPolypodiales
FamilyCystopteridaceae
GenusCystopteris
Synonyms
Cystopteris fragilis var. laurentianaWeatherbyCystopteris x laurentiana(Weatherby) Blasd.
Other Common Names
Cystoptère laurentienne (FR) Laurentian Fragile Fern (EN)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Taxonomic Comments
While this species has sometimes been treated as hybrid (as C. x laurentiana), it is accepted as a fertile, allohexaploid species of hybrid origin, derived from an ancient cross between C. bulbifera and C. fragilis (FNA 1993, vol. 2). This species is included as a fertile hybrid in a synopsis of the genus (Shmakov et al. 2018), and the generic placement of this taxon, in Cystopteris, is in accordance with the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group I (2016).
Conservation Status
Review Date2009-12-21
Change Date2000-08-14
Edition Date1992-07-30
Edition AuthorsS. Gottlieb (1992), rev. L. Morse (2000, 2002); rev. G. Davis (2009)
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences21 - 300
Rank Reasons
Scattered, apparently infrequent occurrences from Newfoundland west at least to Minnesota and south as far as Pennsylvania. Reported to be locally abundant in some areas, such as the Driftless area of the midwestern United States and Manitoulin Island, Ontario, but usually considered rare, including Quebec (Laurentians area). Restricted to limestone, dolomite, and other calcareous or alkaline rocks.
Range Extent Comments
Mostly southern Ontario, east through Quebec to Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, south to eastern Minnesota and Iowa and the northwestern tip of Illinois, east through Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan; also occuring in Vermont, Massachusets, and Pennsylvania in scattered locations (FNA 1993 and Heritage data). Reported by FNA (Vol. 2, 1993) for Connecticut and New Hampshire but these reports seem to be erroneous (no known New Hampshire collections according to Bill Nichols, Dec. 2009; no Connecticut report in Kartesz draft data 2009 or collections in the Univ. of Connecticut online herbarium as of Dec. 2009).
Occurrences Comments
Generally considered "rare" overall (e.g., Lellinger, 1985), but reportedly locally frequent in a few areas such as the Driftless Area of midwest America (Flora of North America 1993) or Manitoulin Island, Ontario (Cody and Britton, 1989). May be locally common on the Niagara Escarpment on the north shore of Lake Superior (Mike Oldham, pers. comm., Dec. 2009).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Cystopteris laurentiana is predominantly found on calcareous sandstone cliffs, on vertical walls (including artificial walls such as those of canals or iron furnaces), in cracks, and on ledges, and it also occurs on cliffs, rocky slopes, and shaded outcrops of limestone, sandstone, dolomite, conglomerate, shale, and diabase.
Terrestrial Habitats
Bare rock/talus/screeCliff
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN2
ProvinceRankNative
WisconsinS2Yes
IllinoisSXYes
IowaSNAYes
MassachusettsS2Yes
MichiganS1Yes
PennsylvaniaS1Yes
VermontS1Yes
MinnesotaSNRYes
CanadaN3
ProvinceRankNative
OntarioS3Yes
Island of NewfoundlandS2Yes
QuebecS3Yes
LabradorS2Yes
New BrunswickS1Yes
Nova ScotiaS2Yes
Plant Characteristics
DurationPERENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (1)
New Hampshire (1)
AreaForestAcres
KilkennyWhite Mountain National Forest28,766
References (19)
  1. Argus, G. W., and D. J. White. 1977. The Rare Vascular Plants of Ontario. The National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 64 pp.
  2. Blasdell, R.F. 1963. A Monographic Study of the Genus <i>Cystopteris </i>in Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club. 21 (4):1-76.
  3. Cody, W.J., and D.M. Britton. 1989. Ferns and fern allies of Canada. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa. 430 pp.
  4. Eilers, L.J., and D.M. Roosa. 1994. The vascular plants of Iowa: An annotated checklist and natural history. Univ. Iowa Press, Iowa City. 304 pp.
  5. Fernald, M.L. 1950 Gray's Manual of Botany, 8th ed. American Book Company, New York. 1632 pp.
  6. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 1993a. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 2. Pteridophytes and gymnosperms. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xvi + 475 pp.
  7. Gleason, H.A. 1952. The new Britton and Brown illustrated flora of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 3 volumes. Hafner Press, New York. 1732 pp.
  8. Gleason, H.A., and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.
  9. Hagenah, D.J. 1961. Spore studies in the genus <i>Cystopteris</i>. I The distribution of <i>Cystopteris </i>with non-spiny spores in North America. Rhodora 63:181-193.
  10. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  11. Lellinger, D.B. 1985. A field manual of the ferns and fern-allies of the U.S. and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. 389 pp.
  12. Marie-Victorin, F. 1995. Flore laurentienne. 3rd edition. Presses of Univ. Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 1093 pp.
  13. Mohlenbrock, R.H. 1986. Guide to the vascular flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale and Edwardsville, Illinois. 507 pp.
  14. Oldham, Michael. Personal communication. Botanist, Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre.
  15. Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group I. 2016. A Community-Derived Classification for Extant Lycophytes and Ferns. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 54(6): 563–603.
  16. Scoggan, H.J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada: Parts 1-4. National Museums Canada, Ottawa. 1711 pp.
  17. Shmakov, A.I., Batkin, A.A., and A.V. Vaganov. 2018. Synopsis of the genus <i>Cystopteris</i> Bernh. (Cystopteridaceae). Ukrainian Journal of Ecology 8(4): 290-297.
  18. Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2024. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of March 4, 2024. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2203 pp.
  19. Weatherby, C.A. 1926. A new North American variety of <i>Cystopteris fragilis</i> in Rhodora 28:129-131.