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Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant) Very common understory on upland prairies, less common in forest understory. Two types of fronds occur on these fern. Sterile fronds are perennial, growing in radial pattern from rhizomes with pairs of leathery leaflets. One to three fertile fronds are deciduous, growing vertically from center of clump with smaller leaflets and rolled margins. Growth forms, especially size, are different between forest and prairie. Forest deer fern are typical of the species, with fronds 20-120 cm long, 35-70 pairs of leaflets on each frond, with leaflets 1-5 cm long. These fern look similar to Sword Fern. Deer fern on the prairies are very stunted. Fronds are less than 20 cm long, often less than 10 cm with 10-20 leaflet pairs less than 2 cm long. |