List of ferns and fern allies of Great Britain and Ireland

For the background to this list, see List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland.

This page's list covers the ferns and allies (Lycopodiopsida, Equisetopsida and Pteridopsida) found in Great Britain and Ireland. For the background to this list see parent article List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland.

Status key: * indicates an introduced species and e indicates an extinct species.

Class Lycopodiopsida

Huperzia selago (northern clubmoss)

Order Lycopodiales

Family Lycopodiaceae (clubmosses)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Alpine clubmoss	Diphasiastrum alpinum
Issler's clubmoss	Diphasiastrum × issleri
Fir clubmoss	Huperzia selago
Stag's-horn clubmoss	Lycopodium clavatum
Marsh clubmoss	Lycopodiella inundata
Interrupted clubmoss	Spinulum annotinum

Order Selaginellales

Family Selaginellaceae (spikemosses)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Krauss's clubmoss	Selaginella kraussiana	*
Lesser clubmoss	Selaginella selaginoides

Order Isoetales

Family Isoetaceae (quillworts)

Isoetes lacustris (lake quillwort or Merlin's grass)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Spring quillwort	Isoetes echinospora
Land quillwort	Isoetes histrix
Quillwort	Isoetes lacustris

Class Polypodiopsida (ferns)

Order Equisetales

Family Equisetaceae (horsetails)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Field horsetail	Equisetum arvense
Water horsetail	Equisetum fluviatile
Rough horsetail	Equisetum hyemale
Marsh horsetail	Equisetum palustre
Shady horsetail	Equisetum pratense
Branched horsetail	Equisetum ramosissimum	*
Wood horsetail	Equisetum sylvaticum
Great horsetail	Equisetum telmateia
Variegated horsetail	Equisetum variegatum

Order Ophioglossales

Family Ophioglossaceae (adder's-tongues)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Moonwort	Botrychium lunaria
Small adder's-tongue	Ophioglossum azoricum
Least adder's-tongue	Ophioglossum lusitanicum
Southern adder's-tongue	Ophioglossum vulgatum

Order Osmundales

Family Osmundaceae (royal ferns)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Royal fern	Osmunda regalis

Order Polypodiales (polypod ferns, cathetogyrates)

Family Pteridaceae (maidenhair fern family)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Maidenhair fern	Adiantum capillus-veneris
Parsley fern	Cryptogramma crispa
Ribbon fern	Pteris cretica	*

Family Hymenophyllaceae (filmy ferns, bristle ferns)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Tunbridge filmy-fern	Hymenophyllum tunbrigense
Wilson's filmy-fern	Hymenophyllum wilsonii
Killarney fern	Vandenboschia speciosa

Family Polypodiaceae

English name	Scientific name	Status
Southern polypody	Polypodium cambricum
Intermediate polypody	Polypodium interjectum
Polypody	Polypodium vulgare
Kangaroo fern	Zealandia pustulata	*

Family Dennstaedtiaceae (bracken family)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Bracken	Pteridium aquilinum

Family Thelypteridaceae (marsh ferns)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Beech fern	Phegopteris connectilis
Lemon-scented fern	Thelypteris limbosperma
Marsh fern	Thelypteris palustris

Family Aspleniaceae (spleenworts)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Black spleenwort	Asplenium adiantum-nigrum
Rustyback	Asplenium ceterach
Sea spleenwort	Asplenium marinum
Lanceolate spleenwort	Asplenium obovatum
Irish spleenwort	Asplenium onopteris
Wall-rue	Asplenium ruta-muraria
Hart's-tongue	Asplenium scolopendrium
Forked spleenwort	Asplenium septentrionale
Maidenhair spleenwort	Asplenium trichomanes
Green spleenwort	Asplenium viride

Family Woodsiaceae (cliff ferns)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Alpine lady-fern	Athyrium distentifolium
Lady-fern	Athyrium filix-femina
Newman's lady-fern	Athyrium flexile
Dickie's bladder-fern	Cystopteris dickieana
Brittle bladder-fern	Cystopteris fragilis
Mountain bladder-fern	Cystopteris montana
Oak fern	Gymnocarpium dryopteris
Limestone fern	Gymnocarpium robertianum
Ostrich fern	Matteuccia struthiopteris	*
Sensitive fern	Onoclea sensibilis	*
Alpine woodsia	Woodsia alpina
Oblong woodsia	Woodsia ilvensis

Family Dryopteridaceae (wood ferns)

English name	Scientific name	Status
House holly-fern	Cyrtomium falcatum	*
Hay-scented buckler-fern	Dryopteris aemula
Scaly male-fern	Dryopteris affinis
Narrow buckler-fern	Dryopteris carthusiana
Crested buckler-fern	Dryopteris cristata
Broad buckler-fern	Dryopteris dilatata
Northern buckler-fern	Dryopteris expansa
Male-fern	Dryopteris filix-mas
Rigid buckler-fern	Dryopteris mindshelkensis
Mountain male-fern	Dryopteris oreades
Scaly buckler-fern	Dryopteris remota	e
Hard shield fern	Polystichum aculeatum
Holly fern	Polystichum lonchitis
Soft shield fern	Polystichum setiferum

Order Salviniales

Family Marsileaceae (pepperworts)

English name	Scientific name	Status
Pillwort	Pilularia globulifera

Family Salviniaceae

English name	Scientific name	Status
Water fern	Azolla filiculoides	*

Order Cyatheales (tree ferns etc.)

Family Dicksoniaceae

English name	Scientific name	Status
Australian tree-fern	Dicksonia antarctica	*

Family Blechnaceae

English name	Scientific name	Status
Chilean hard-fern	Parablechnum cordatum	*
Hard-fern	Struthiopteris spicant

See also

For all lists, see Category: Lists of vascular plants of the British Isles.

• Flora of Great Britain
• Flora of Ireland
• Ferns of Europe

Notes

• Jersey fern (Anogramma leptophylla) is present in the Channel Islands as a native species, but does not occur in Britain or Ireland.
• Irish spleenwort (Asplenium onopteris) is native only to Ireland; it is represented in Britain only by an introduced population in North Wales.

External links

• Media related to The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland, Thomas Moore at Wikimedia Commons
• Media related to British Ferns and their Varieties (1912), color images at Wikimedia Commons
• Media related to Our native ferns, or, A history of the British species and their varieties at Wikimedia Commons