#wildfernhour
LightNews LightNews
treebeard793.bsky.social
Borrer's Male-fern, Dryopteris borreri can be a most attractive #woodland #fern
#WildFernHour #WildflowerHour
@rspbcymru.bsky.social Ynys-hir
September 21, 2025 at 7:00 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Beech Fern is a very fine plant. Always happy to stumble across this one.
Roudsea Woods and Mosses NNR.
#WildFernHour - #WildflowerHour
#Ferns
#Cumbria
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Phegopteris connectilus, Beech Fern
May 24, 2026 at 8:25 AM
treebeard793.bsky.social
You can see why it was named Royal Fern.
King of the Ferns - Osmunda regalis.
#WildFernHour, #WildflowerHour
#Roudsea #NNR
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Osmunda regalis, Royal Fern Osmunda regalis, Royal Fern
July 5, 2026 at 4:19 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
#WildFernHour #WildflowerHour
Rigid Buckler-fern is now starting to appear. A Nationally Scarce, liimestone specialist. The minute glands (key ID feature) can clearly be seen in the close-up 📷.
Clawthorpe Fell, #Cumbria
April 13, 2025 at 7:41 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Oreopteris limbosperma, Lemon-scented Fern. Most frequently associated with damp and wet habitats, especially the edges of watercourses in the uplands
#WetlandPlants for #WildFernHour / #WildflowerHour
July 26, 2026 at 5:44 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
A mid-week #WildFernHour because, why not. Two cracking species from #Moidart & #Ardnamurchen - Hay-scented Buckler-fern, Dryopteris aemula & Sea Spleenwort, Asplenium marinum 💚🌿
#Ferns
#Botany
#Nature
Hay-scented Buckler-fern, Dryopteris aemula and D. Dilatata. Glen Uig, Moidart. Hay-scented Buckler-fern, Dryopteris aemula. Glen Uig, Moidart. Hay-scented Buckler-fern, Dryopteris aemula. Glen Uig, Moidart. Asplenium marinum, Sea Spleenwort. Point of Ardnamurchen.
September 29, 2026 at 4:18 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Sea Spleenwort, Asplenium marinum.
#WildFernHour, ahead of tonight's #WildflowerHour
#RSPB #Hodbarrow
@rspbengland.bsky.social
Sea Spleenwort, Asplenium marinum
June 14, 2026 at 3:30 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Two classic limestone ferns, Limestone Fern, Gymnocarpium robertianum & Rigid Buckler-Fern, Dryopteris submontana. Both Nationally Scarce but abundant on Farleton Knott.
#WildFernHour - #WildflowerHour
@bsbibotany.bsky.social @cumbriawildlife.bsky.social Flora of Cumbria Recording Group yesterday
Gymnocarpium robertianum, Limestone Fern. Farleton Knott SSSI Gymnocarpium robertianum, Limestone Fern. Farleton Knott SSSI Dryopteris submontana, Rigid Buckler-Fern. Farleton Knott SSSI
May 17, 2026 at 3:58 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
A somewhat alternative take on the #LawnFlowers challenge -
Pillwort, Pilularia globulifera, so dense it is essentially forming an aquatic lawn in this pool at Hodbarrow.
#WildfernHour ahead of #WildflowerHour this evening.
#RSPBEcology
@rspbengland.bsky.social
Pillwort, Pilularia globulifera. RSPB Hodbarrow Pillwort, Pilularia globulifera. RSPB Hodbarrow
June 7, 2026 at 1:34 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
More Fern magic from #Haweswater in the #LakeDistrict One of the more distinctive taxa of the wider Dryopteris affinis complex. Now with full species status. It forms large, untidy clumps & the indusia can be highly variable.
Narrow Male-fern, Dryopteris cambrensis
#WildFernHour = #Wildflowerhour
Dryopteris cambrensis Dryopteris cambrensis Dryopteris cambrensis
November 2, 2025 at 8:42 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Lemon-scented Fern, Oreopteris limbosperma. I'm yet to find one convincingly lemon scented myself. Fortunately there are much better ID features.
#WildFernHour (most any hour is Wild Fern Hour for me).
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
@wildhaweswater.bsky.social
Lemon-scented Fern, Oreopteris limbosperma
May 30, 2026 at 5:33 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
I find it hard to pick a favourite native #Fern species. It so often turns out to be the one that I'm looking at any given time. And so here's another firm favourite. Cystopteris fragilis, Brittle Bladder-fern.
#WildFernHour = #Wildflowerhour
@rspbengland.bsky.social #Haweswater
Cystopteris fragilis Cystopteris fragilis
November 2, 2025 at 8:46 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
After the excitement of the #NewYearPlantHumt I've barely had a minute to look for plants this week. Nothing in flower of note but this thriving patch of Black Spleenwort brightened up a very wet, grey day in the Forest of #Bowland today.
#wildflowerhour
#WildFernHour
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, Black Spleenwort
January 11, 2026 at 8:00 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
A random Tuesday #WildFernHour #WildFlowerHour because, why not? Magnificent Royal Ferns, Osmunda regalis at North Walney NNR. From the
Flora of #Cumbria Recording Group visit last week.
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Osmunda regalis, North Walney NNR. Osmunda regalis, North Walney NNR. Osmunda regalis, North Walney NNR.
June 10, 2025 at 11:10 AM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Whilst out Snowdrop hunting for the @bsbibotany.bsky.social @cumbriawildlife.bsky.social Flora of Cumbria Recording Group, we found some lovely patches of Manton''s Polypody, Polypodium x mantonii, & a large stand of Rustyback, Asplenium ceterach. Underbarrow, #Cumbria
#WildFernHour #wildflowerhour
Manton''s Polypody Polypodium x mantonii Rustyback Asplenium ceterach
February 8, 2026 at 4:21 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
#Ferns really add interest to #winter #woodland walks when there is so little in the way of flowering plants.
Narrow Male-fern (Dryopteris cambrensis) & Scaly Male-fern (D. affinis ssp affinis) at Witherslack Woods.
#WildFernHour / #WildflowerHour
#Cumbria
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Dryopteris cambrensis Dryopteris cambrensis, indusia variable in thickness Dryopteris affinis subspecies affinis Dryopteris affinis subspecies affinis, thickened indusia
December 14, 2025 at 2:09 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
The Dryopteris affinis agg are a confusing bunch with taxa likely to continue to change. I'm pretty sure this is ssp paleaceolobata which will be new for hectad NY41 if confirmed. Cumbria is something of a hotspot for this taxon.
#WildFernHour = #Wildflowerhour
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
November 2, 2025 at 8:12 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Parsley Fern is a very common species in the #LakeDistrict, even growing on roadside rocks and walls. A real upland specialist & much scarcer in some other UK areas. It has 2 distinct frond types. One of my favourite botanical names - Cryptogramma crispa. Wonderful 💚
#WildFernHour = #Wildflowerhour
Cryptogramma crispa Cryptogramma crispa
November 2, 2025 at 8:02 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
A luxuriant patch of Black Spleenwort growing on a limestone wall in Silverdale.
Wonderful botanical name - Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. A somewhat scarce species locally these days.
#WildFernHour ahead of tonight's #wildflowerhour
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum Asplenium adiantum-nigrum Asplenium adiantum-nigrum
November 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Hard Fern, Blechnum spicant is very common in the Lake District but as a calcifugous species you don't often see it on limestone habitats.
Found this nice specimen with both frond types in a limestone woodland at The Howe, Whitbarrow today.
#wildfernhour - #wildflowerhour
November 16, 2025 at 3:39 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
I haven't done a #WildFernHour - #WildFlowerHour equivalent for a few weeks & so here are Lemon-scented Fern, Oreopteris limbosperma, Narrow Scaly Male-fern, Dryopteris cambrensis & (I think) Golden Scaly Male-fern, D. affinis subsp. paleaceolobata. Lake District, #Cumbria
Oreopteris limbosperma Dryopteris cambrensis Dryopteris affinis subsp. paleaceolobata
June 8, 2025 at 7:10 PM
treebeard793.bsky.social
Tripping over masses of fresh fronds of Gymnocarpium robertianum, Limestone Fern & Dryopteris submontana, Rigid Buckler-fern on Hutton Roof Crags today. Both, nationally scarce limestone specialists. Lovely to see both in such abundance.
#WildFernHour
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
#Cumbria
Gymnocarpium robertianum. Hutton Roof Crags. Dryopteris submontana. Hutton Roof Crags.
April 26, 2025 at 9:26 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Finally, a fern! Day 10 of my botanical #adventcalendar is the delicate Alpine Lady-fern, a species of Scottish mountains that grows where the snow lies late, consequently declining linked to changing climate

I find the pattern of its fronds very restful, almost hypnotic to look at... #wildfernhour
The early morning sun rising over the Grey Corries mountain range picks out a clump of May-green coloured Alpine Lady's-fern (Athyrium distentifolium), its shuttlecock of fronds erect with a little downturn at the tip. Each frond is delicate and dissected, and on this plant the pinnules are down-turned at the edges. Behind, large blocks of pale quartzite dot the steep slope, turning to scree and crags as the corrie rises to the ridge crest. The sun is just topping the ridge, making an optical illusion as if shining through a semi-circular hole in the ridge, and its refraction on the camera lens forms a faint rainbow above the fern Looking down on a clump of Alpine Lady-fern, growing out of Woolly Fringe-moss (Racomitrium lanuginosum) at the base of a quartzite cliff. The elegant fronds are spreading, showing off their delicate dissection and yellow-green colour against the greys of the rock and moss.
December 10, 2025 at 9:42 AM