Motivated by last year’s fern forays and spurred on by my new membership of the British Pteridological Society, I have decided to try something different this year: a personal challenge to see as many of Britain’s fern species as possible in a single year. The idea being that, by seeking out our ferns, I’ll learn more about them, their habitats, and the subtleties involved in identifying them. This blog will be part #9.

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Holy Island – 29 June

In the closing days of June, I found myself in the privileged position of leading a guided orchid tour of Holy Island. Conveniently, our route on the second day took us past Northumberland’s only known population of a rather beautiful, if minuscule, little fern: Small Adder’s-tongue Ophioglossum azoricum.

A tiny, rhizomatous species of short coastal grassland and clifftops, the colony here was discovered by my colleague Chris Metherell and seemingly represents the only known site on the east coast of England. Given that we were passing, it would have been rude not to call in and pay our respects.

Thankfully, the fern wasn’t difficult to find (I have visited more than my fair share of times) and, despite the recent heatwave, the population appeared to be doing rather well. Photographing a plant this small is always something of a challenge, but I’m rather pleased with the images below.

Hareshaw Linn – 3 July

Fast forward a few days and a trip to Hareshaw Linn delivered the next of the year’s ‘new’ ferns. The purpose of the visit was actually a fern identification session I was leading for work and, in the space of just a few hours, we managed to track down a healthy 16 species.

Among the highlights were some superb displays of Beech Fern Phegopteris connectilis and Oak Fern Gymnocarpium dryopteris, both of which rank among my favourite pteridophytes.

Of course, while visiting Hareshaw Linn, it would have been rude not to pay homage to the site’s population of Lobed Maidenhair Spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes subsp. pachyrachis. The plants here are far more ornately lobed than those encountered earlier in the year and, as a result, considerably easier to identify. A bonny thing indeed!

This aside, our visit to the Linn did provide a few genuinely new additions to this year’s challenge. The first, Brittle Bladder-fern Cystopteris fragilis, was perhaps a little overdue by this point in the season. Better late than never, though, and we encountered several healthy clumps growing alongside the spleenwort on the cool, rocky banks.

Two other ferns proved a little harder to track down, both being rather thin on the ground at this site. Happily, we eventually encountered fine examples of Lemon-scented Fern Oreopteris limbosperma and Narrow Buckler-fern Dryopteris carthusiana, growing in a damp, flushed area alongside Wood Horsetail Equisetum sylvaticum and a host of other characteristic plants.

With those two safely accounted for, the year’s tally climbed to a healthy 40 species. I fear, however, that I may now have exhausted most of the easy options. From here on in, adding new ferns to the list is likely to require a little more effort…

Running Total

Seeing as I rarely carry a notebook, we’ll log our running total for the year here…

#1 Wall-rue	Asplenium ruta-muraria	Tyneside
#2 Maidenhair Spleenwort	Asplenium trichomanes subsp. quadrivalens	Tyneside
#3 Hart’s-tongue	Asplenium scolopendrium	Tyneside
#4 Black Spleenwort	Asplenium adiantum-nigrum	Tyneside
#5 Broad Buckler-fern	Dryopteris dilatata	Tyneside
#6 Male-fern	Dryopteris filix-mas	Tyneside
#7 Soft Shield-fern	Polystichum setiferum	Tyneside
#8 Japanese Lace Fern	Polystichum polyblepharum	Tyneside
#9 Hard Shield-fern	Polystichum aculeatum	Tyneside
#10 Hard Fern	Blechnum spicant	Tyneside
#11 Western Scaly Male-fern	Dryopteris affinis subsp. affinis	Tyneside
#12 Borrer’s Scaly Male-fern	Dryopteris borreri	Tyneside
#13 Lady Clermont’s Spleenwort	Asplenium x clermontiae	Northumberland
#14 Rustyback	Asplenium ceterach	Northumberland
#15 N/A	Dryopteris borreri morph. robusta	County Durham
#16 N/A	Dryopteris borreri forma foliosum	County Durham
#17 Greater Scaly Male-fern	Dryopteris affinis subsp. paleaceolobata	Tyneside
#18 Tunbridge Filmy-fern	Hymenophyllum tunbrigense	Northumberland
#19 Lady-fern	Athyrium filix-femina	Tyneside
#20 Adder’s-tongue	Ophioglossum vulgatum	Tyneside
#21 Delicate Maidenhair Spleenwort	Asplenium trichomanes subsp. trichomanes	North Yorkshire
#22 Narrow Male-fern	Dryopteris cambrensis	North Yorkshire
#23 Green Spleenwort	Asplenium viride	North Yorkshire
#24 Parsley Fern	Cryptogramma crispa	North Yorkshire
#25 Moonwort	Botrychium lunaria	County Durham
#26 Holly Fern	Polystichum lonchitis	N/A
#27 Oblong Woodsia	Woodsia ilvensis	N/A
#28 Western Sword-fern	Polystichum munitum	Northumberland
#29 Oak Fern	Gymnocarpium dryopteris	Northumberland
#30 Beech Fern	Phegopteris connectilis	Northumberland
#31 Polypody	Polypodium vulgare	Northumberland
#32 Royal Fern	Osmunda regalis	Yorkshire
#33 Lobed Maidenhair Spleenwort	Asplenium trichomanes subsp. pachyrachis	Yorkshire
#34 Rigid Buckler-fern	Dryopteris submontana	Cumbria
#35 Limestone Fern	Gymnocarpium robertianum	Cumbria
#36 Sea Spleenwort	Asplenium marinum	Northumberland
#37 Small Adder’s-tongue	Ophioglossum azoricum	Northumberland
#38 Narrow Buckler-fern	Dryopteris carthusiana	Northumberland
#39 Brittle Bladder-fern	Cystopteris fragilis	Northumberland
#40 Lemon-scented Fern	Oreopteris limbosperma	Northumberland