Winter Ferns 2025-2026

Braun's Holly Fern

Here is a photo of the Braun's Holly Fern (Polystichum braunii) I mentioned in the last news article. Related to the Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), but if you look closely you will see it looks quite different close up. Pinnae are different, and get smaller on top and bottom, and sori are on the back of the entire fertile frond, not just the upper portion like Christmas. If you see any fern that looks like this in Massachusetts, we (& Natural Hertitage) would love to know!

I also wanted to share the results of the Christmas Fern Count Randy and I did yesterday. It was a good day for the search, with very little snow cover. The tally was 25 Fern Species! And 6 clubmoss species. A nice way to spend an afternoon. The secret of course is having a wonderfully diverse area, and knowing exactly where to look for some of the less common and deteriorated species. We were able to find the identifying characteristics for them all. I posted the list on our Downloads webpage, under Fern Lists. For those of you who don't want to bother going there, the list is as follows:

Evergreen and Overwintering Green: Christmas, Marginal, Evergreen, Clinton's, Common Polypody, Maidenhair Spleenwort, Ebony Spleenwort, Walking Fern, Dissected Grape Fern. Faded but still identifiable: Sensitive, Cinnamon, Interrupted, Lady, Silvery Spleenwort, Royal, Ostrich, Marsh, New York, Hay-scented, Bracken, Maidenhair, Narrow Beech, Rattlesnake, MacKays's Fragile, and Bulbet ferns.

The clubmosses included Prickly, Hickey's, Tree, Fan (digitatum), Shining, and Stag's Horn (or Wolf's Claw).

Wishing you all Happy New Year!

Posted: to PV Fern News on Fri, Dec 26, 2025
Updated: Fri, Dec 26, 2025