Thelypteris noveboracensis, New York fern
Snyder, S. A. 1993. Thelypteris noveboracensis, New York fern. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/thenov
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| THENOV | New York fern | Thelypteris noveboracensis | Life Form: Plants/Fern or Fern Ally, Plants/Forb Kingdom: Plantae Class: Fern or moonwort Order: Polypodiales Family: Thelypteridaceae Genus: Thelypteris | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name of New York fern is Thelypteris noveboracensis (L.) Nieuwl. in the Polypodiaceae family [14]. There are two forms: T. n. noveboracensis forma noveboracensis and T. n. forma fragrans (Peck) Burnham [8,24]. The most commonly used synonym in the literature is Dryopteris novebaracensis.
Synonyms
- Dryopteris noveboracensis (L.) Gray
- Polypodium noveboracensis L.
- Aspidium noveboracensis Schrad.
- Aspidium conterminum strigosum Eaton
- Dryopteris contermina stigosa Underw.
Other Common Names
None
General Distribution
New York fern is distributed from Newfoundland west to Ontario and south to Arkansas and Georgia [8]. It occurs throughout the New England and Atlantic coastal states and has been noted in some parts of Florida [14,24,25]. It is also found in Hawaii and some midwestern states [21].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AR CT FL GA HI IL IN KY ME MD MA MI MS NH NJ NY NC OH PA RI SC TN VT VA WV
- Canada: NB NF NS ON PQ
Site Characteristics
New York fern grows in moist woodlands and pastures, ravines, bogs, swamps, and field margins of Eastern deciduous forests [24,25,28]. It is rarely found in dry woodlands of Illinois [21]. In the Adirondack Mountains it grows on well-drained to "imperfectly-drained" sites from 100 feet (30 m) in elevation near Lake Champlain to 2,300 feet (701 m) in the MacIntyre Range [14]. It occurs up to 5,000 feet (1,524 m) elevation in the Blue Ridge Province [25]. It is found on marine sandy and glacial meltwater sites on well-drained slopes in disturbed forests southwest of Montreal, Quebec [20]. It grows on calcareous sites in the southern Blue Ridge escarpment. Soils there are Brevard phyllite, with a pH of 6.2 to 6.5 [6]. It can also grow on sites with a pH as low as 3.8 [9].
Plant Communities
New York fern is an understory component of the yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)-sugar maple (Acer saccharum) association in Quebec [15].
Some overstory species with which New York fern is associated are swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), mazzard cherry (Prunus avium), mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa), pignut hickory (C. glabra), shagbark hickory (C. ovata), white ash (Fraxinus americana), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), and spicebush (Lindera benzoin) [19,29]. Some understory associates include hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), short huskgrass (Bracheylytrum erectum), violet (Viola spp.), woodsorrel (Oxalis spp.), aster (Aster spp.), clubmoss (Lycopodium spp.), viburnum (Viburnum spp.), evergreen woodfern (Dryopteris intermedia), common greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia), circaea (Circaea quadrisulcata), ladyfern (Athyrium filex-femina), Indian jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), and wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense) [1,9,17,18].
Botanical Description
New York fern is a deciduous fern with leaves about 18 inches (46 cm) long and 6 inches (15 cm) wide. It grows in tufts along horizontal rhizomes which are somewhat scaly and widely creeping [2,25]. Spore clusters are submarginal, and spore covers are absent or minute and quickly shrivel [24,25]. The fronds of Thelypteris noveboracensis forma fragrans are glandular and aromatic [8,24].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Chamaephyte
- Geophyte
- Hemicryptophyte
Seasonal Development
New York fern produces spores from May through August from Virginia south to Georgia [28], from late July through late September in New England [24], and from June through September in Illinois [21]. Leaves turn brown in autumn, usually before other wood ferns [25].
Regeneration Processes
Sexual reproduction will occur on bare mineral soil, but New York fern reproduces mainly by a creeping rootstock that allows it to form dense ground cover [11]. The rhizomes grow faster in partially cut than in uncut stands. New rhizomes form on the frond petiole [11]. The rhizomes can be pulled out of the ground like a mat of sod and transplanted [25].
Successional Status
Facultative Seral Species
New York fern is shade tolerant, but will grow in canopy openings in hardwood forests [2,11,29].
Immediate Fire Effects
No entry.
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
- Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Fire Adaptations
New York fern has widely creeping rhizomes that allow it to regenerate following fire [11].
Plant Response to Fire
In general, rhizomatous species respond to fire by sprouting. No specific effects of fire on New York fern were found in the literature.
The Research Project Summary Early postfire effects of a prescribed fire in the southern Appalachians of North Carolina provides information on prescribed fire and postfire response of plant community species, including New York fern, that was not available when this species review was originally written.
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
In Allegheny hardwood types, fire does not control undesirable species like New York fern [12].
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
No entry.
Palatability and Nutritional Value
No entry.
Cover Value
No entry.
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
No entry.
Other Uses
No entry.
Other Management Considerations
In hardwood forests of the Northeast, New York fern can sometimes be an undesirable species because of its ability to outcompete seedlings of commercially important tree species [3,10,11,12]. It can form a dense ground cover, especially following clearcutting, preventing establishment of hardwood seedlings. Treatment with glyphosate or sulfometuron before clearcutting is recommended to reduce New York fern cover [10,12].
White-tailed deer browsing of Allegheny hardwood seedlings, particularly black cherry (Prunus serotina), can cause increases of New York fern [11,26]. New York fern produces phenols which can kill black cherry seedlings [5].
Acid rain studies on Long Island, New York, showed that New York fern became a dominant understory species where pH levels declined to between 3.8 to 4.1 [9].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES10 White - red - jack pine
- FRES15 Oak - hickory
- FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
- FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
- FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
- FRES14 Oak - pine
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- No entry
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K098 Northern floodplain forest
- K099 Maple - basswood forest
- K100 Oak - hickory forest
- K101 Elm - ash forest
- K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
- K104 Appalachian oak forest
- K106 Northern hardwoods
- K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
- K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
- K112 Southern mixed forest
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 14 Northern pin oak
- 15 Red pine
- 20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
- 21 Eastern white pine
- 22 White pine - hemlock
- 23 Eastern hemlock
- 25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
- 27 Sugar maple
- 28 Black cherry - maple
- 39 Black ash - American elm - red maple
- 44 Chestnut oak
- 46 Eastern redcedar
- 52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
- 53 White oak
- 55 Northern red oak
- 57 Yellow-poplar
- 58 Yellow-poplar - eastern hemlock
- 59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
- 64 Sassafras - persimmon
- 108 Red maple
- 110 Black oak
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry
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