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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE LADY-FERN FAMILY | |||||||||
| The lady-fern family is well represented
in forested regions in Saskatchewan. These plants are different than the
angiosperms, or flowering plants, because they do not produce flowers. Instead,
the reproductive structures are called sporangia, or spore sacs. Each spore
sac contains many spores. The spores will germinate to produce what is called
the gametophyte. The gametophyte will produce an archegonium and an antheridium
which will produce the egg and sperm respectively. The egg and sperm fuse
to form a zygote, which grows into the sporophyte. The sporophyte is the
stage of the life cycle that is referred to below. In the lady-fern family, the leaves are called fronds. The leaf stalk is known as the stipe. The leaves in this family are often divided. The segments created by the first division are called pinnae (pinna sing.); the segments created by the second division are called pinnules (pinnule sing.). The spore sacs are in clusters called sori (sorus sing.). The indusium is the covering on the sorus and may be absent in some species. |
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| ALPINE WOODSIA | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Woodsia alpina | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Alpine woodsia grows from short creeping rhizomes that are covered with old frond bases. The fronds are densely tufted. The stipes are jointed above the base. The joint is easily observed because it is swollen compared to the stipe above and below. The blades are usually pinnate, then lobed. The vein tips are often enlarged to form whitish openings which leak water. The largest pinnae have one to three pairs of pinnules. The pinnules are usually round-toothed or smooth on the edges. The sori are rounded and separate when the plant is young. As the plant ages, the sori may meld together. The indusium is made of narrow, hair-like segments. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Alpine woodsia grows on granitic outcrops in wooded areas. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in northwestern Saskatchewan in the Mid-Boreal Upland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Alpine woodsia is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is rare and is only known from one region of the province. Local population sizes vary, but are almost always small. No immediate threats are known for this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY ALPINE WOODSIA | |||||||||
| * Are the fronds densely tufted? * Are the fronds with sori similar to the ones without sori? * Do the vein tips form whitish openings from which water leaks? * Did you find it in northwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found alpine woodsia! | |||||||||
