North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Anchistea virginica

Anchistea virginica (L.) C. Presl

virginia chain fern

Image ID: 24481
Image by: Cressler, Alan M.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ANVI6
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Anchistea virginica
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-09-18

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: ANCHI
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Anchistea
GENUS AUTHORITY:
GENUS COMMON: Virginia Chain Fern
GENUS SUMMARY: A monotypic genus, perennial herb, of e. North America. Anchistea has often been lumped into the Eurasian (mainly e. Asian) Woodwardia, but is basal to Woodwardia, morphologically distinctive from both Woodwardia and Lorinseria, and an ancient independent lineage.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: Sterile plants of Osmundastrum cinnamomeum are sometimes confused with Anchistea virginica, which also has rather coarse, pinnate-pinnatifid leaves and grows in similar wet, acid places. Osmundastrum is coarser (to 2 m tall, vs. to 1 m tall), has cinnamon tufts of tomentum present in the axils of the pinnae (vs. absent), has the rachis greenish and rather fleshy in texture (vs. brown and wiry), and bears fronds clumped or tufted from a massive, woody, ascending rhizome covered with old petiole bases (vs. fronds borne scattered along a thick, horizontal, creeping rhizome).
GENUS REFERENCES: Cranfill & Kato (2003)=Z; Cranfill in FNA (1993b); Li et al. (2015); Kramer, Chambers, & Hennipman in Kramer & Green (1990).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: BLECHN
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Blechnaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: (C. Presl) Copeland 1947
FAMILY COMMON: Deer Fern Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 7 genera and 250 species, cosmopolitan in distribution.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Perrie et al. (2014)=Y; Cranfill in FNA (1993b); Lellinger (1985); Kramer, Chambers, & Hennipman in Kramer & Green (1990).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 18-24 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb, Fern

LEAF ARRANGEMENT:
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Sep

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
					x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
											x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE:
NATIVE RANGE: eastern North America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Virginia Chain Fern is found growing in bogs and swamps as well as other wet sites, such as along the edges of streams. Its natural range includes eastern North America and Bermuda. This species thrives in areas where the soil stays consistently moist, such as alongside a pond. Some Native American tribes used ferns of the Woodwardia genus for making baskets and dyes.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 3
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 10
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
981	1985-0675			View
2038	1986-1832			View
4721	1992-0877			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
1859	981	135	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
1860	981	6	NCBG staff	1985-06-05	View
1861	981	63	NCBG staff	1985-06-05	View
1862	981	64	NCBG staff	1985-06-05	View
1863	981	145	NCBG staff	1985-06-05	View
3285	2038	6	NCBG staff	1986-12-23	View
3286	2038	63	NCBG staff	1986-12-23	View
7050	4721	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
13645	0	69	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ANVI6
USDA Common Name:
Native Status:
Distribution:
Duration:
Growth Habit:

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Anchistea virginica
COMMON NAME: Virginia Chain Fern
SYNONYMY: [= S, Z; = Woodwardia virginica (Linnaeus) J.E. Smith - Ar, C, F, FNA, G, Il, K, Pa, RAB, Tn, Va, W, WH3]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Sep.
HABITAT: Moist to wet, acid, organic soils, such as bogs, blackwater bottomlands, pocosins, sometimes in standing water, as in periodically flooded coastal plain depression ponds.
COMMENTS: NS west to MI and IL, south to s. FL and TX, and in Bermuda, primarily on the Coastal Plain.
RANGE MAP: Anchistea virginica.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Blechnaceae (C. Presl) Copeland 1947 (Deer Fern Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 7 genera and 250 species, cosmopolitan in distribution.
REFERENCE: Perrie et al. (2014)=Y; Cranfill in FNA (1993b); Lellinger (1985); Kramer, Chambers, & Hennipman in Kramer & Green (1990).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Anchistea (Virginia Chain Fern)
SUMMARY: A monotypic genus, perennial herb, of e. North America. Anchistea has often been lumped into the Eurasian (mainly e. Asian) Woodwardia, but is basal to Woodwardia, morphologically distinctive from both Woodwardia and Lorinseria, and an ancient independent lineage.
REFERENCE: Cranfill & Kato (2003)=Z; Cranfill in FNA (1993b); Li et al. (2015); Kramer, Chambers, & Hennipman in Kramer & Green (1990).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Anchistea virginica in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Anchistea virginica in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Anchistea virginica in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Anchistea virginica in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Anchistea virginica in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Anchistea virginica

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 24481 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 24481 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 24481 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)