ILLINOIS PLANT INFORMATION NETWORK
 
 ILPIN INFORMATION ON    Pteridium aquilinum latiusculum
 
 
 CLASS:    LEPTOSPORANGIOPSIDA
 ORDER:    FICALES
 FAMILY:   DENNSTAEDTIACEAE
 SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Pteridium aquilinum latiusculum
 AUTHORITY:  (L.)Kuhn
 
 COMMON NAMES:
    BRACKEN FERN
 
 SYNONOMY:   None
 
 PLANTS CODE: PTAQL
 
 NATURAL COMMUNITIES:
     FOREST
       UPLAND FOREST
         DRY
       SAND FOREST
         DRY
     SAVANNA
       SAND SAVANNA
         DRY
     CULTURAL
       AGRICULTURAL FIELD
         PASTURELAND
       SUCCESSIONAL FIELD
 
 SAF FOREST COVER TYPE:  UNAVAILABLE
 
 
 NATURAL DIVISION:
     Coastal Plain
        Cretaceous Hills
 
 COUNTIES:
   ADAMS           ALEXANDER       BOONE           BROWN           CALHOUN
   CARROLL         CASS            CHAMPAIGN       CHRISTIAN       CLAY
   COLES           COOK            CRAWFORD        DOUGLAS         DUPAGE
   EFFINGHAM       FULTON          GRUNDY          HANCOCK         HARDIN
   HENDERSON       HENRY           JACKSON         JERSEY          JO DAVIESS
   JOHNSON         KANE            KANKAKEE        KNOX            LAKE
   LASALLE         LEE             LOGAN           MCDONOUGH       MCHENRY
   MASON           MASSAC          MENARD          MORGAN          OGLE
   PEORIA          POPE            PULASKI         PUTNAM          RANDOLPH
   RICHLAND        SANGAMON        SCHUYLER        STEPHENSON      TAZEWELL
   UNION           VERMILION       WABASH          WASHINGTON      WAYNE
   WILL            WILLIAMSON      WINNEBAGO
 
 GROWTH FORM:  Fern-allies
 
 TAXONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS:
    ROOTS:  Adventitious   (fibrous)   (rhizomes)
    LEAF ARRANGEMENT:
    LEAF TYPE:    Compound  (trifoliate)
    LEAF MARGIN:   Lobed  (pinnately)
    LEAF VENATION:  Pinnate
 
    INFLORESCENCE:           No
 
 
 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC COMMENTS:
     Growing tip of rhizome glabrous or sparsely white hairy; blade
     triangular, bipinnate-pinnatifid, ternate.
 
 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION:
     ORIGIN:   Native
 
 POPULATION DYNAMICS:
     STATE STATUS: Not listed
     FEDERAL STATUS: Not listed
     COMMONNESS:  Common
     ENDEMIC:   NOT-ENDEMIC
 POPULATION STATUS COMMENTS:
     Occasional in southern counties.
 
 
 BIOLOGIC:
     HABIT:   Forb
     LIFE CYCLE:   Perennial
     REPRODUCTION:   Sexual   Vegetative
     TROPHIC STATUS:  Autotrophic
     C02 FIXATION:  C3
 
 ECODISTRIBUTION COMMENTS:
     Open or rocky woods; sterile woods; clearings; burns; roasides; sunny,
     sandy areas.
 
 ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS:
     DISTURBANCE INDICATOR:   Fire
     GROWTH OF SPECIES IN VARIOUS CONDITIONS:
          GRAVEL         No data entered    SAND           Good
          SANDY LOAM     Good               LOAM           No data entered
          CLAY LOAM      No data entered    CLAY           No data entered
          DENSE CLAY     No data entered    ORGANIC SOIL   No data entered
          NEUTRAL pH     No data entered    ACIDIC SOIL    Good
          EXTREMELY ACID No data entered    SALINE SOIL    No data entered
          SODIC SOIL     No data entered    SODIC-SALINE   No data entered
          ROCKY OUTCROPS No data entered    GENTLE SLOPES  No data entered
          MODERATE SLOPE No data entered    STEEP SLOPES   No data entered
     HABITAT:   Dry
 
 FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS:
     MAJOR DISPERSAL AGENTS:   WIND
     MAJOR POLLINATION AGENT:   None
 
 HUMAN RELATIONSHIP DATA:
     EDIBLE:  Yes
     SHOWY FLOWERS:  NO
 
 HUMAN FACTOR COMMENTS:
     Young leafy fronds can be cooked and eaten like asparagus
 
 WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK INFORMATION:
     FOOD VALUE:  No data entered
     COVER VALUE:  No data entered
 
 LIVESTOCK PALATABILITY DATA:
     CATTLE FORAGE: No data    SHEEP FORAGE:  No data    HORSE FORAGE:  No data
     GOAT FORAGE:   No data    ENERGY VALUE:  No data    PROTEIN VALUE: No data
     POISONOUS (LIVESTOCK):   Yes
 
 LIVESTOCK COMMENTS:
     Poisonous if consumed over time, but usually not eaten unless food is
     very short.
 
 REVEGETATION PLANTINGS:
     WEEDINESS:   Economic
 
 
 
 REFERENCES:
Jones, G. N.  1963.  Flora of Illinois.  Third ed.  American Midland Naturalist
     Monograph 7.  University of Notre Dame, Indiana.  401 pp.
Steyermark, J. A.  1963.  Flora of Missouri.  Iowa State University Press, Ames.
     1725 pp.
Gleason, H. A., and A. Cronquist.  1963.  Manual of vascular plants of north-
     eastern United States and adjacent Canada.  Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.,
     New York.  810 pp.
Fernald, M. L.  1950.  Gray's manual of botany.  8th ed.  American Book Co.,
     New York.  1632 pp.
Swink, F., and G. S. Wilhelm.  1979.  Plants of the Chicago region.  Third ed.
     The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.  922 pp.
Mohlenbrock, R. H.  1967-continuing.  The illustrated flora of Illinois.
     Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.
Agricultural Experiment Station.  1981.  Weeds of the North Central States.
     Bulletin 772.  College of Agriculture, University of Illinois at Urbana-
     Champaign, Urbana.  303 pp.
Downton, W. J. S.  1975.  The occurrence of C4 photosynthesis among plants.
     Photosynthetica 9(1): 96-105.
Mohlenbrock, R. H., ed.  1983-continuing.  Illinois flora update.  Erigenia.
 
 END OF DATA FOR SPECIES  Pteridium aquilinum latiusculum
 
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 ILPIN was developed by Louis Iverson*, with data compiled by David Ketzner and Jeanne Karnes
 Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820
     *currently employed by USDA Forest Service, 359 Main Rd., Delaware, OH 43015