INTRODUCING TERRESTRIAL NON-FLOWERING PLANTS
Terrestrial non-flowering plants range from single-celled algae, through mosses, liverworts and horsetails, to complex ferns, plants with roots and a vascular system that transports food and water. Seaweeds are algae but are covered separately. Terrestrial non-flowering plants photosynthesise, trapping sunlight energy using pigments (including chlorophyll) and creating food. But their reproduction is primitive: they do not produce flowers or seeds, but instead produce spores as part of their life cycles.
Sandhill Screw-moss Syntrichia ruralis ssp. ruraliformis Height to 5cm
Forms dense, extensive patches in sand dunes. LEAVES are yellowish green, recurved and tapering, and end in a thin point. Spore capsule is reddish, cylindrical and upright, the mouth lined with teeth when mature. STATUS Locally common.
Whitish Feather-moss Brachythecium albicans Spreading
Forms an open carpet on bare, sandy soil in dunes. Stems are branched and spreading, with numerous upright branches. LEAVES are yellowish green, oval and pointed-tipped; stems are densely cloaked. Spore capsules are rarely produced. STATUS Locally common.
Haircap mosses Polytrichum sp. Height to 10cm
Several Polytrichum species are widespread, some forming carpets in damp dune-slacks. LEAVES are narrow and spreading in all species; plants themselves resembling miniature conifer shoots. STATUS Locally common.
Field Horsetail Equisetum arvense Height to 75cm
Herbaceous perennial that forms spreading patches in damp coastal grassland. STEMS include sterile shoots with ridged stems that carry whorls of unbranched branches, and fertile shoots that appear in early spring and ripen in May. STATUS Widespread and common.
Bracken Pteridium aquilinum Frond to 2m
Our commonest fern. Often carpets coastal slopes and cliffs with dry, acid soils. FRONDS are compact with curled tips at first. Mature fronds are green and are repeatedly divided 3 times. Spore cases are borne around frond margins. STATUS Widespread and locally abundant.
Dryopteris aemula Frond to 50cm Fresh green fronds smell of hay when crushed and remain green through winter. FRONDS are repeatedly divided 3 times and have pale brown scales on stalk. STATUS Locally common only in SW England, W Scotland and W Ireland. Favours W-facing slopes.
Sea Spleenwort Asplenium marinum Frond to 30cm
Classic maritime fern. FRONDS are leathery, shiny and bright green; they taper at both ends and have broad, oblong lobes and a green midrib. STATUS Confined to coastal caves and crevices in the W that are subject to sea spray.
Asplenium obovatum Frond to 30cm
Maritime fern. FRONDS are fresh green; they do not taper towards base and pinnae are often folded down. STATUS Confined to walls and rocky banks in the W, usually within sight of the sea.
Polypody Polypodium vulgare Frond to 50cm
Typical of damp, wooded valleys but also common in stable, damp dune-slacks. FRONDS are dark green, leathery, divided simply and borne on slender stalks. They appear in May and persist overwinter. STATUS Widespread and locally common.
Adder’s-tongue Ophioglossum vulgatum Frond to 10cm
Unusual fern of damp dune-slacks. FROND is bright green, oval and borne upright on a short stalk. Spores are borne on a tall fertile spike. STATUS Widespread but only locally common.
Small Adder’s-tongue Ophioglossum azoricum Height to 4cm
Similar to Adder’s-tongue but much smaller and often with paired leaves. FROND is bright green, oval and borne on a short stalk. Spores are borne on a short fertile spike. STATUS Very locally common in short coastal grassland in W Britain.
Maidenhair Fern Adiantum capillus-veneris Frond to 35cm
Delicate-looking clump-forming fern with pendulous fronds that grows in rock crevices. FRONDS comprise bright green fan-shaped pinnae borne on a dark, wiry, divided stem. STATUS Restricted to damp, shady gullies and cliffs, usually on calcareous rocks, in SW Britain.
Royal Fern Osmunda regalis Frond to 3m
Large and impressive fern of damp, shady places, mostly on acid soils. FRONDS are triangular overall, repeatedly divided 2 times into oblong lobes. Separate central fertile fronds, covered in golden spores, appear Jun–Aug. STATUS Widespread and locally common on shady sea cliffs.