Rock ferns

[Brian Ellis]

  .....seen the snowdrop threads recently? ( )

Behave yourself

[Ed Alverson]

Adiantum aleuticum japonicum

It is interesting that such very similar plants can grow naturally in Japan and North America, and speaks to the long history of species migrating from Asia to North America - or vice-versa- over millions of years.

Speaking of Adiantum aleuticum - as a follow-up to an earlier mention of var. subpumilum in this thread in July 2012 - I thought I would post some photos of this dwarf var. growing in the wild. Its natural habitat is very interesting - it only grows on overhanging cliffs right above salt water on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Here are some old photos from when I was shown one of the sites in the 1980's. The ferns can be seen in the middle photo as green spots on the "roof" of the rock alcove on the right side of the photo, to the right of the natural rock arch.

Ed

[johnw]

  .....seen the snowdrop threads recently? ( )

Well Giles, then you know very well the prices do change on Galanthus and so too the labels.

[Maggi Young]

Ed: Quite a surprise to me to see the habitat of the Adiantum on Vancouver Island.

[Ed Alverson]

Ed: Quite a surprise to me to see the habitat of the Adiantum on Vancouver Island.

Yes, they seem so delicate, but in some ways at least they aren't.

[Hoy]

Ed, what a special landscape! I am living at the western coast of Norway and used to see coastal landscapes but nothing quite like that!
Does the Adianthum need the sea spray or can it grow more sheltered too?

[ruweiss]

Some ferns from my garden
Asplenium fontanum
Cheilanthes lanosa
Cheilanthes intertextus
Notholaena marantae

[Ed Alverson]

Ed, what a special landscape! I am living at the western coast of Norway and used to see coastal landscapes but nothing quite like that!
Does the Adiantum need the sea spray or can it grow more sheltered too?

I don't believe Adiantum aleuticum var. subpumilum requires sea spray - it grows just fine in regular rock gardens - and in fact my theory is that the shortened pinnae of this variety are an evolutionary response to the salt spray. Fronds that stick out away from the cliff are more likely to be burned by the salt spray, and thus plants with shorter pinnae have been selected for in these habitats.

[Giles]

UK's seaside fern: Asplenium marinum

[Giles]

Wellies or speedos: depends if you can read a tidetable.

[David Nicholson]

Do I deduce that wasn't taken in Northants Giles

[Giles]

My new water feature, David 

[David Nicholson]

 

[Ed Alverson]

UK's seaside fern: Asplenium marinum

The habitat of Asplenium marinum is in many ways similar to Adiantum aleuticum var. subpumilum: overhanging rock alcoves just above the beach. Must be some "fern thing" that allows these plants to survive in such a rugged habitat.

[Ed Alverson]

Ed, what a special landscape! I am living at the western coast of Norway and used to see coastal landscapes but nothing quite like that!
Does the Adiantum need the sea spray or can it grow more sheltered too?

One difference to keep in mind is the difference in latitude: Vancouver Island is 48 deg. 30 minutes to 51 degrees N latitude (the equivalent of Normandy to Flanders in Europe), but the southernmost point of Norway is 58 degrees north. So naturally the Norway Coast would be a more harsh environment.