'Rarest fern in Europe' discovered in Ireland

[Still Waters]

Europe’s rarest fern has been discovered in Killarney, Ireland, leaving botanists baffled over how it remained undetected for so long.

The neotropical fern, Stenogrammitis myosuroides, has only ever previously been found in the mountainous cloud forests of Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic – more than 4,000 miles across the Atlantic.

Rory Hodd, an Ireland-based botanist who spotted the tiny plant in a remote upland valley far from the nearest road, said: “It’s rare to discover a new native plant species in Britain and Ireland – one that we think arrived ‘under its own steam’, not imported by humans – but it’s frankly amazing to discover a genus that’s completely new to Europe.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/04/rarest-fern-europe-discovered-ireland

[+susieice]

I had a hard time opening the op link. I kept getting an error message. The Guardian usually works well for me but I went to find another link to the story. I'll put it here in case someone else is having an issue. This article is wondering if this tropical fern could be the result of climate change.

7 hours ago, seanjo said:

So this has come across the Atlantic, by sea or air...

The spores could have come from the clothing or shoes of people who traveled to the Caribbean. Or in cargo or produce shipped to Ireland. They said they don't think it did but they didn't entirely rule it out. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened. It is amazing that it took root there if it's tropical. Maybe it's a more hearty strain or it could have been there long enough to adapt if it went for a long time without being found.

Edited October 4, 2020 by susieice

[+susieice]

OMG. I forgot to post the link 

https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/1004/1169346-ireland-fern-discovery/

[+Hammerclaw]

Seems more likely to be an invasive species, not a hitherto unknown European species. The spores may have escape from someone's tropical planter, purchased in the West Indies.

[Ozymandias]

The south-west of Ireland has a unique flora that is characterised as Lusitanian: http://www.irishwildflowers.ie/lusitanian.html . So rare and unusual flowers and plants are normal for the region.

This rare Irish fern, Stenogrammitis myosuroides, has only ever previously been found in the mountainous cloud forests of Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Although this is classifed as a tropical fern, the altitude at which its thrives in the tropics is an important factor and therefore it is not strange that it should survive at lower altitudes in temperate Ireland. 

There are many species of flora that are found in Ireland's south-west that are normally associated with more southern climates. The botanists involved in this discovery are not surprised that this rare fern thrives in Ireland but are surprised that it has not been detected there until now, the consensus being that it is not a blow-in but has been growing there for millenia.