BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Cystopteris montana
mountain bladder fern
| Scientific Name: | Cystopteris montana (Lam.) Bernh. ex Desv. | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | mountain bladder fern | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | CYSTMON | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Oct 2019) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Mountain Bladder Fern has delicate fronds arising singly from dark, cord-like, creeping rhizomes. The black, sparsely scaly petioles, 6-30 cm long, are longer than the triangular blades, which are 6-14 cm long and wide. The blade is pinnately divided into numerous pairs of leaflets, which become smaller towards the tip. The lower leaflets are again 2-3 times pinnately divided, while the upper leaflets are only pinnately lobed. The first downward pointing division of each of the 2 lowest leaflets is noticeably longer than the paired upward pointing divisions. Clusters of spores, or sori, are borne on veins just in from the edges on the undersides of the blades. Each sorus is partially contained in a whitish membranous pocket, or indusium. | ||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Diagnostic Characteristics: | The blades of C. FRAGILIS are at least twice as long as they are wide. GYMNOCARPIUM DRYOPTERIS has a triangular blade, but it is somewhat wider than it is long, and the sorus lacks an indusium. DRYOPTERIS AUSTRIACA has blades that are over 20 cm long. | ||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
| Known Pests: | |||||||||||
| Pollen Vector: | |||||||||||
| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | AK to Lab., south to Que., nw. MT, and B.C.; disjunct in CO. Peripheral. | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | JM | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Oct 21, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
McLaughlin, W. T. 1935. Notes on the flora of Glacier National Park, Montana. Rhodora 37:362-365. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Cystopteris montana. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 9, 2026).