Struthiopteris spicant | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Division: | Polypodiophyta |
Class: | Polypodiopsida |
Order: | Polypodiales |
Suborder: | Aspleniineae |
Family: | Blechnaceae |
Genus: | Struthiopteris |
Species: | S. spicant
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Binomial name | |
Struthiopteris spicant (
L.) F.W.Weiss
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Synonyms [1] [2] | |
Synonyms
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Struthiopteris spicant, syn. Blechnum spicant, is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae, known by the common names hard-fern [3] or deer fern. It is native to Europe, western Asia, northern Africa, and western North America. [1] [4] Like some other species in the family Blechnaceae, it has two types of leaves. The sterile leaves have flat, wavy-margined leaflets 5 to 8 millimeters wide, while the fertile leaves have much narrower leaflets, each with two thick rows of sori on the underside. [5]
The Latin specific epithet spicant is of uncertain origin, possibly referring to a tufted or spiky habit. [6]
S. spicant is hardy down to −20 °C (−4 °F) and evergreen, growing to 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in). [7] It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [8]
The species was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus as Osmunda spicant. It has been placed in a wide range of genera, including Blechnum (as Blechnum spicant). [1] In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is placed in the genus Struthiopteris, in the subfamily Blechnoideae. [9]