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Ferns do not have seeds like flowering plants – instead they produce spores, usually in small “heaps” which may or may not have a membrane covering them. Most ferns produce their spores in late summer or the autumn, usually on the underside of the fronds. The picture shows the kidney-shaped heaps of ripe spores of the common Male Fern, which grows in many Ryedale woods (photo: 11/9/99). 
The little Wall Rue pictured right was growing on the walls of Helmsley Castle (photo: 29/5/99).
Moonwort The curious fern (left) looks more like a flowering plant, with one pinnately lobed “leaf” below a fertile spike. It is uncommon, growing amongst grass in meadows, and barely reaching 6" tall (5/7/2000).
The Ferns and Horsetails in the tables below may be found in the Ryedale area. We do not necessarily have definite records for all of them (there is a significant quantity of historical data in the Society’s files which we are still working through).
| English Name | Latin Name | Adderstongue | Ophioglossum vulgatum |
|---|---|
| Beech Fern | Phegopteris connectilis |
| Black Spleenwort | Asplenium adiantum-nigrum |
| Bracken | Pteridium aquilinum |
| Brittle Bladder Fern | Cystopteris fragilis |
| Common Buckler Fern | Dryopteris dilatata |
| Common Polypody | Polypodium vulgare |
| Common Spleenwort | Asplenium trichomanes |
| Golden Scale Fern | Dryopteris affinis |
| Great or Giant Horsetail | Equisetum telmateia |
| Hard Fern | Blechnum spicant |
| Hard Shield Fern | Polystichum aculeatum |
| Hartstongue | Phyllitis scolopendrium |
| Hay-scented Buckler Fern | Dryopteris aemula |
| Lady Fern | Athyrium filix-femina |
| Lemon-scented or Mountain Fern | Oreopteris limbosperma |
| Male Fern | Dryopteris filix-mas |
| Moonwort | Botrychium lunaria |
| Oak Fern | Gymnocarpium dryopteris |
| Royal Fern | Osmunda regalis |
| Rusty-back | Ceterach officinarum |
| Wall Rue | Asplenium ruta-muraria |
 Common or Field Horsetail, fertile stem |
|
 Marsh horsetail, with ‘cone’ |
Photos copyright © Gill & Adrian Smith 1999, 2000
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© Ryedale Natural History Society 1999, 2000