FERN GENERA

As a member of the NC State Plant Toolbox data entry team, I am working on the genus pages for ferns.  This is important because ferns are one of the most diverse group of plants on the planet, with 48 families, >300 genera and >12,000 species.  Identifying ferns can be daunting so learning how to identify which genus a fern falls into is a big step towards understanding fern taxonomy.  

Resources for identifying fern genera. 

• Common fern genus characteristics: Hardy Fern Foundation 
• Fern genus characteristics: Elizabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden 

As we update the Genera pages for the NC Native Ferns on the NC State Plant Toolbox, I will create a link to them here.

         Fern genera found in NC (pronunciation) 

1. Adiantum (ae-dee-AN-tum )
2. Asplenium (as-PLEE-nee-um) 
3. Athyrium (uh-THEE-ree-um) 
4. Botrychium (boh-TRIK-ee-um) 
5. Cystopteris (sis-TOP-ter-is)  
6. Dryopteris (dry-OP-ter-iss)
7. Hemionitis (hem-ee-oh-NYE-tiss)
8. Homalosorus (ho-ma-loh-SOR-us) 
9. Onoclea (on-OH-klee-ah)
10. Ophioglossum
11. Osmunda (os-MUN-dah)
12. Osmundastrum (os-mun-DAS-trum)
13. Phegopteris (fay-GOP-ter-iss)
14. Pleopeltis (plee-oh-PELL-tiss)
15. Polypodium (pol-ee-POH-dee-um)
16. Polystichum  (pol-IS-tick-um )
17. Sitobolium (sy-toh-BOH-lee-um)
18. Thelypteris (theh-LIP-ter-iss)
19. Woodsia (WOOD-see-ah)
20. Woodwardia (wood-WAR-dee-ah)