Lygodium palmatum (Bernh.) Sw.
Hartford fern, climbing fern, American climbing fern, creeping fern, windsor fern, Thoreau’s climbing fern
Hartford fern is a North American native. The name “Thoreau’s climbing fern” originates from an 1853 sighting by Henry David Thoreau, later verified, in an impressive show of scholarly thoroughness, by Ray Angelo. Hartford ferns, once gathered for Christmas decorations, have the interesting distinction of being the first endangered species—the first plants protected by law against picking in the United States.
Identification: This fern manages to combine the properties of a vine, a fern, and a palm in a single species. (And maybe willow as well, since the genus Lygodium derives from a Greek word meaning “willow-like.”) Unlike most ferns, it clambers over other plants with a long, thin woody stem (rachis), which may reach 15′ (4.6 m) in length. Its deeply divided leaves are fernlike, but also palmate, with 3-7 spreading blunt-tipped fingerlike lobes.
Habitats: Moist acid soil of thickets, bogs, marshes, and open and closed woods.
Edibility:
Medical:
Courtesy of Clipart ETC. 
Online References:
References:
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm) 
5/6/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Groton, Massachusetts 
10/11/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 6″ (19 × 14 cm) 
10/5/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 3½″ (14 × 9.6 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
10/11/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 7″ (16 × 17 cm) 
10/11/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 10″ (16 × 24 cm) 
10/11/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 3½″ (9.1 × 8.6 cm) 
5/6/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Groton, Massachusetts 
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm) 
10/11/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 6″ (10 × 15 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Pteridophyta | Ferns |
| Class | Filicopsida | “Leptosporangiate” (has to do with how their spores form) ferns—includes most ferns |
| Order | Polypodiales | Polypod ferns |
| Family | Lygodiaceae | Climbing fern family |
| Genus | Lygodium | From the Greek word for “willow-like” |
| Species | palmatum | Means “palm-like,” for the leaves |
Lygodium palmatum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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