Woodwardia areolata
netted chain fern, chainfern, chain fern, netted chainfern
Family
Blechnaceae
Leaf Arrangement
basal (rosulate)
Leaf Attachment
petiolate
Leaf Margin
pinnatifid
Leaf Type
compound, pinnate
Growth Form
fern
Flower Month
June - October
Height (meters)
0.3 - 0.8
Milky Sap
No
Armed/Unarmed
Unarmed
Origin
native
Lifespan
perennial
Wetland Class
OBL
Wetland Coefficient of Conservatism
7
Field Characters
Superficially similar to sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) and sometimes confused with it. Onoclea grows taller (4’), withers at first touch of frost (hence its name), tends to have opposite pinnae with blunt tips, prominent veins that are not netted, and its leaves are not strongly dimorphic. Chain fern (Woodwardia areolata) grows to 1-2’ and tends to have alternate pinnae with acute tips and that are not toothed on the margins, its prominent veins are not netted.
Habitat
Swamps, marshes, still water edges, moist or wet woods, floodplains, acid soils, thickets and wet pinelands.