Gilchrist Field [January 2023]
Gilchrist Field
29th January 2023
On my walk ... the polypody fern
Polypody ferns [Polypdium vulgare] are not uncommon, they can be found on tree branches, walls and rocks, house roofs and also on bare earth on shady banks, often by water. They are much smaller than most other common ferns and their leaves are narrow and without 'sub-fronds' on its fronds; does that make sense? This specimen was growing on concrete on a path through the Byes. Their favoured habitat is certainly growing on oak trees in deciduous woodland and that is probably the easiest place to find them as long as you remember to look upwards occasionally. In Dorset I found them in many woodlands I would expect to find them here when I go looking at our local woods around the Sid Valley. There are three variations of polypody, the common, the Southern and the intermediate (or, in some books, the Western). Separating them is difficult unless you are an expert but Southern and intermediate prefer calcareous (chalk and lime) substrates and so are less likely to be found aroun...
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