Osmunda claytoniana (
Interrupted Fern) is a
fernA fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta. The group is also referred to as Polypodiophyta, or Polypodiopsida when treated as a subdivision of tracheophyta...
native to
easternThe Eastern Half of The United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River...
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
and eastern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. In
easternEastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
North America it occurs from southern
ManitobaManitoba is a prairie province in Canada and has an area of . Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south...
,
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
,
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
(up to the tree line), east to
NewfoundlandNewfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. This easternmost Canadian province comprises two main parts: the island of Newfoundland off the country's eastern coast, and Labrador on the mainland to the northwest of the island.A...
and south through the
Appalachian mountainsThe Appalachian Mountains , often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians...
down to
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
and west to the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. In Asia, it is found in the Himalaya, southern
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
,
KoreaKorea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....
, and
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
. Fragmentary foliage resembling
O. claytoniana has been found in the fossil record as far back as the
TriassicThe Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 251 to 199 Ma . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
, and is known as
Osmunda claytoniites
It is named after the English-born Virginian botanist
John ClaytonJohn Clayton , was a Colonial plant collector in Virginia.Clayton was born in England, and moved to Virginia with his father in 1715, where he lived in Gloucester County, exploring the region botanically. Clayton sent many specimens, as well as manuscript descriptions, to Dutch botanist Jan...
.
The
frondThe term frond is used to refer to a large, divided leaf.In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group...
s are bipinnate, 40-100 cm tall and 20-30 cm broad, the blade formed of alternate segments forming an arching blade tightening to a pointed end.
Osmunda claytoniana (
Interrupted Fern) is a
fernA fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta. The group is also referred to as Polypodiophyta, or Polypodiopsida when treated as a subdivision of tracheophyta...
native to
easternThe Eastern Half of The United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River...
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
and eastern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. In
easternEastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
North America it occurs from southern
ManitobaManitoba is a prairie province in Canada and has an area of . Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south...
,
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
,
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
(up to the tree line), east to
NewfoundlandNewfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. This easternmost Canadian province comprises two main parts: the island of Newfoundland off the country's eastern coast, and Labrador on the mainland to the northwest of the island.A...
and south through the
Appalachian mountainsThe Appalachian Mountains , often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians...
down to
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
and west to the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. In Asia, it is found in the Himalaya, southern
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
,
KoreaKorea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....
, and
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
. Fragmentary foliage resembling
O. claytoniana has been found in the fossil record as far back as the
TriassicThe Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 251 to 199 Ma . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
, and is known as
Osmunda claytoniites
It is named after the English-born Virginian botanist
John ClaytonJohn Clayton , was a Colonial plant collector in Virginia.Clayton was born in England, and moved to Virginia with his father in 1715, where he lived in Gloucester County, exploring the region botanically. Clayton sent many specimens, as well as manuscript descriptions, to Dutch botanist Jan...
.
The
frondThe term frond is used to refer to a large, divided leaf.In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group...
s are bipinnate, 40-100 cm tall and 20-30 cm broad, the blade formed of alternate segments forming an arching blade tightening to a pointed end. The lower end is also slightly thinner than the rest of the frond because the first segments are shorter. Three to seven short, cinnamon-colored fertile segments are inserted in the middle of the length, giving the plant its name. In their absence, the plant in all its stages appears similar to
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum (Cinnamon Fern). To distinguish them, look at the base of the segments; where
O. cinnamomeum has typical felt-like
hairsTrichomes , are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. These are of diverse structure and function...
, the few hairs present on
O. claytoniana are extremely short, usually requiring a
magnifying glassA magnifying glass is a convex lens which is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle ....
to see well.
Like other species in the family Osmundaceae, it grows a very large
rhizomeIn botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
, with persistent stipe bases from previous years. It forms small, dense
coloniesA clonal colony or ramet is a group of genetically identical individuals that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively from a single ancestor. In plants, an individual in such a population is referred to as a ramet...
, spreading locally through its rhizome, and often forming
fairy ringA fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. The rings may grow over ten meters in diameter and become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear...
s.
Ecological aspects
It is found in humid zones, mostly in forests, but also in more open biomes, although rarely in
bogA bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
s. The interrupted fern is often found alongside
ostrichThe Ostrich fern or Shuttlecock fern is a crown-forming, colony-forming fern, occurring in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in eastern and northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America....
, cinnamon and
sensitive fernThe Sensitive fern , also known as the Bead fern, is a coarse-textured, medium to large-sized perennial fern. The name comes from the observation by early American settlers that it was very sensitive to frost, the fronds dying quickly when first touched by it...
s.
The plant is known from
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
s to have grown in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, showing a previous circumboreal distribution.
Osmunda × ruggii, a hybrid between
O. claytoniana and
O. regalis (Royal Fern), is the only known hybrid in the family Osmundaceae. The hybrid is considered important because it suggests a closer genetic relationship between
O. claytoniana and
O. regalis than between
O. claytoniana and
O. cinnamomeum (a fact which has lead to moving
O. cinnamomeum out of
Osmunda and into its own genus
Osmundastrum).
Osmunda × ruggii is sterile and is known from only about two natural populations, despite the many areas in which both
O. claytoniana and
O. regalis are found.
Cultivation and uses
Unlike those of the ostrich fern, the interrupted fern's
fiddleheadFiddlehead ferns refers to the unfurled fronds of a young fern harvested for food consumption. The fiddlehead, or circinate vernation, unrolls as the fern emerges from the ground with new growth...
s are not readily edible, due to their bitter taste and a tendency to cause diarrhea. The base of the stipe and very young buds are edible, but should not be abused for risk of killing the crown.