ESSEX   BOTANY   AND   MYCOLOGY  GROUPS 

Native. A common fern of basic shaded rocks in woodland and mortar of walls in north and west U.K. Scattered on the mortar of walls in the south and east, either as a native, due to wind blown spores, or naturalized in gardens. The delicate fronds, seldom more than c.35cm long, and with brittle, scaly stipes half to two thirds as long as the rest of the frond, arise in tufts from a short rhizome. Usually bipinnate to almost tripinnate. Ultimate pinnules ovate in outline with veins ending in the apices of the pinnule teeth. [c.f. C. alpina (one Essex record) where many of the veins end in notches between the apices] Sori in two rows, the indusia pale, one sided, cup-shaped on the proximal side, and pointed at the distal end. The fronds die down in winter. Only one naturalized occurrence recorded for Essex, probably as a relict of cultivation from the late 1800s.