Dickie's bladder-fern facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dickie's bladder-fern |
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| Scientific classification | |
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Cystopteris
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| Species: |
dickieana
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The Dickie's bladder-fern (scientific name: Cystopteris dickieana) is a type of fern that grows in many places across the Northern Hemisphere (the top half of the Earth). Scientists who study plants, called botanists, sometimes discuss if it's its own unique species or just a different kind of another fern called C. fragilis.
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Where Dickie's Bladder-Fern Grows
This fern is found naturally in Canada and the United States. It also grows in many European countries, including Russia, and in parts of north Africa and the Andes mountains. You can usually find it in mountain areas below the tree-line. These places are called "montane habitats." However, it can also grow in lower areas if the summers are cool.
How This Fern Was Discovered
The Dickie's bladder-fern was first officially found by William Knight. He was a professor at Marischal College in Aberdeen, Scotland. Knight discovered a small group of these ferns growing on rocks inside a sea cave. Local people called this cave a "yawn."
First Records and Naming the Fern
The first time this fern was written about was in a book called Flora Aberdonenis in 1838. It included a note about the fern from George Dickie, who was one of Knight's students. Dickie also sent a live fern to Robert Sim. Sim was a plant nursery owner in Kent, England. He thought it was a brand new species. In 1848, Sim wrote about his discovery in a newspaper called the Gardener's and Farmer's Journal. He named the fern C. dickieana after George Dickie.
The "Fern-Fever" in Victorian Times
During the mid-1800s, in the Victorian period, collecting ferns became very popular in Scotland. This craze was known as Pteridomania, or "fern-fever." Because of this, many rare British ferns were in great danger. People collected them so much that some types almost disappeared.
In 1860, George Dickie reported that the original group of ferns in the "yawn" cave had been completely removed. However, there are different ideas about this. Today, more than 100 Dickie's bladder-ferns grow there. They are found in a crack in the cave roof, alongside other ferns like the Athyrium filix-femina and Dryopteris dilatata.
Protecting Dickie's Bladder-Fern
In the UK, the Dickie's bladder-fern only grows naturally in Scotland. Because it's rare, it is protected by a law called the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This law helps make sure the fern can continue to grow and thrive in its natural home.
