Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

1980

Thesis Director

Charles B. Arzeni

Abstract

A study of the ferns in East Central Illinois was conducted between the spring of 1976 and the spring of 1980. The counties surveyed were Coles, Clark, and Cumberland. The majority of the field investigation was conducted near the moraines and waterways which dissect the area.

Keys are provided for the families, genera, and species. There are also descriptions and illustrations for each species considered. The description covers the gross external morphology and any variations that occur. Also included are habitat preference and local distribution data. In addition, there are ethnic comments dealing with the derivation of both folk and scientific names, economic importances, folk history, and horticultural potential.

As a result of extensive field and herbarium work the number of species credited to the region is now thirty-three. Two new species were discovered in the study area (Lycopodium flabelliforme (Fern.) Blanch. and Dryopteris goldiana (Hook.) Gray). There were also several county records not previously reported. The new species include five from Cumberland county (Lycopodium flabelliforme (Fern.) Blanch., Botrychium dissectum Spreng. var. dissectum, Ophioglossum vulgatum L. var. pseudopodum (Blake) Farw., Equisetum laevigatum A. Br., and Asplenium rhizophyllum L.), six from Clark county (Botrychium dissectum Spreng. var. dissectum, Ophioglossum vulgatum L. var. pseudopodum (Blake) Farw., Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn var. latiusculum (Devs.) Underw., Athyrium pycnocarpon (Spreng.) Tidestrom, Dryopteris carthusiana (Villars) H. P. Fuchs, and Dryopteris goldiana (Hook.) Gray), and two from Coles county (Dryopteris carthusiana (Villars) H. P. Fuchs and Dryopteris goldiana (Hook.) Gray). Most of the specimens are housed in the Stoner Herbarium at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois.

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