Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America and Eurasia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Spores
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

This fern grows in damp, shaded woodlands across the northern hemisphere. It produces tiny brown spores on the underside of its leaves that launch into the air.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Dryopteridaceae
Genus: Dryopteris
Species: Dryopteris carthusiana