Ophioglossum vulgatum L.

Species Species

Family: OPHIOGLOSSACEAE

Genus: Ophioglossum

Catalan common name: Llengua de serp.

Spanish common name: Lengua de serpiente mayor.

Province distribution: Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Holarctic

Plants protected by law: País Valencià Catalogue.

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Geophyte.

Habitats: Forest border. Non-saline wetlands (intermittent watercourses, streams, artesian wells, ditches). Meso-xerophyll mountain fields. Meadows, rushbeds, forests, and generally wet habitats, on base-poor soils temporarily flooded by oligotrophic waters.

Characteristics: Small fern producing a single frond (occasionally two), divided into two parts: a sterile, entire, ovate blade (2–3 cm wide) with veins forming a visible reticulate pattern; and a fertile segment shaped like a spike, rising above the sterile part and bearing 15 to 50 pairs of sporangia. Spores are small, rounded, and have a finely verrucose surface.

Observations: It differs from O. lusitanicum and O. azoricum by the shape of the blade, being broader than in O. lusitanicum and narrower and shorter than in O. azoricum.