Focused Fern Walk this Sunday Sept 19th

Amherst College land, off College St

A reminder for our short focused fern walk Sunday, to see lots and lots of wonderful climbing ferns (Lygodium palmatum). The photo is a recent one showing the small fertile pinnae on top and the larger sterile ones below. What is cool about this fern is the rachis is actually the long vine-like stem, so it can be meters long. This fern has also been called the "Hartford Fern", as it was the first fern to be protected by law, passed in Hartford CT in 1869. It is a beautiful fern!

We will meet at 2 PM at the corner of Shumway and College Streets in Amherst (next to Amherst Liquors parking lot). We will be taking the trail approximately across the street into the woods. We usually park on the west side of the parking lot next to Kelly's Restaurant (314 College St), out of the way of the businesses. There are parking spaces on the east side of that parking lot as well, or wherever else you can find a place.

There are about a dozen of the more common ferns along our walk in, and we can identify them in passing, but will be aiming for the Climbing Fern location. There are also Crested Ferns in the same area as the Climbing. This is a woods trail, pretty flat, but may be muddy or slippery on the wooden boardwalks if wet.

Posted: to PV Fern News on Tue, Sep 14, 2021
Updated: Tue, Sep 14, 2021