Thelypteris palustris Schott
Family: Thelypteridaceae
Eastern Marsh Fern
[Aspidium thelypteris Sw.]
Thelypteris palustris image

The name Thelypteris thelypterioides (Michaux) Holub has been applied to T . palustris , but A. F. Tryon et al. (1980) have shown that this was a result of an incorrect typification by C. V. Morton (1967).

Thelypteris palustris var. palustris occurs in Eurasia.

Rhizome with a few appressed, ovate scales, otherwise glabrous; lvs subdimorphic; petioles black at the base, glabrous, scaleless, the sterile to 3.5 dm, shorter or longer than the blades, the fertile to 7 dm, longer than the blades; blade lanceolate or lance-oblong, to 4 נ2 dm, pinnate-pinnatifid, acuminate, only slightly narrowed at the base; pinnae lance-linear, subsessile, the sterile to 2 cm wide, with obtuse, entire, broadly oval segments to 10 נ5.5 mm, the fertile segments oblong, to 4 mm wide, with incurved margins; costae scarcely scaly, these and the costules hairy; veins 6-8 pairs per segment, those of the sterile blades once forked, those of the fertile blades simple or the basal ones mostly forked; indusia ciliate or rarely glabrous; 2n=70. Marshes and bog-margins; widespread in the N. Hemisphere, and throughout our range. (Aspidium thelypteris; Dryopteris thelypteris) Our plants are var. pubescens (Lawson) Fernald.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of the Indiana Dunes (1930) - Donald C. Peattie

T. palustris (L.) Schott. Low, the fronds pinnate, in outline lanceolate; pinnae deeply pinnatifid, horizontal or slightly recurved, with oblong lobes; margins strongly revolute, making the pinnules appear acute at the tip; fruit dots numerous, soon merging. (T. Thelypteris House; Aspidium Thelypteris Sw.; Dryopteris Thelypteris Gray.)—A pale green, fragrant fern, abundant on marshes, in swales, dune meadows, and moist prairies. August.

Thelypteris palustris image
Thelypteris palustris image
Thelypteris palustris image
John Hilty  
Thelypteris palustris image
John Hilty  
Thelypteris palustris image
Thelypteris palustris image
Thelypteris palustris image