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Perry Creek, Washington, a Fern-Watcher's Eldorado

1976; American Fern Society; Volume: 66; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/1546516

1938-422X

Arthur R. Kruckeberg,

Rangeland and Wildlife Management

The vascular plant flora in the major drainage systems of western Washington is highly predictable from one river valley to the next. The typical coniferous forest plants reoccur throughout the region. This expectation holds as well for the ferns and fern-allies in the cismontane Pacific Northwest. The same species, Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum var. pubescens), Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum), Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina), Oak Fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris), and Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant), can be expected in the usual range of forest communities. But the botanist-naturalist is in for a big surprise along a two-mile segment of the Perry Creek trail in Snohomish County, Washington, about 40 miles northwest of Seattle. No fewer than 26 species of ferns and fern-allies are known from this remarkable locality. It is a truly exceptional habitat well within the lowland coniferous forest biome.