The Hairy Water-clover is extremely rare. It was
first collected in the province in 1889 at Kamloops and not found again
for sixty years until relocated there. Recently, specimens have been collected
near Vernon.
Distinguishing features
This fern's rhizomes
are wide-creeping and clothed with reddish-brown, or tawny, silky hairs
at the nodes. The clover-like leaves are 4-20 cm tall with slender
petioles that are hairy at first and later smooth. The blades
are 1-3 cm broad and leaflets 5-15 mm long with broadly wedge-shaped margins
that are hairy at first. The peduncles
are short and mostly free from the petiole; the sporocarps
are solitary, 4-8 mm long, 3-6 mm broad and at first very densely hairy,
later more or less smooth.
Distribution
Map
Red dots indicate specimen records or confirmed breeding sites.
British Columbia
The Hairy Water-clover is found in southern British Columbia around the
Thompson Plateau and Shuswap Highlands (Kamloops, Vernon, Osoyoos Lake).
North America
Outside of British Columbia, the Hairy Water-clover is found south to
southern California and east to southern Alberta, South Dakota, Kansas,
Oklahoma and Texas.
Habitat
Hairy Water-clover prefers the edge of ponds and rivers and marshy places.
Why is it endangered?
This species along with others of the grasslands communities are endangered
for a number of reasons. Livestock grazing, range re-seeding and off-road
recreation have modified much of the remaining "undeveloped"
grassland areas. In addition, cultivation, agricultural and urban development,
prescribed burning, forest encroachment, road and trail development, alien
plant and animal species introductions, and hydro-electric power projects
have caused outright, irreversible losses of native grassland species.
Because grasslands have been so influenced by human activities, a relatively
large number of wildlife species associated with grasslands (including
this plant species) are listed as threatened or endangered. Because of
these combined influences and the relatively limited distribution of grasslands,
"ancient" grasslands represent a much more endangered space
in British Columbia than do "ancient" or old-growth forests.
Biology
Male and female spores are produced in blackish ellipsoidal structures
termed sporocarps, borne on branching stalks at or near stipe-base.
Sources for more information
Related On-line Sites to Visit
Publications
The Ferns and Fern-allies of BC, TMC Taylor, RBCM, 1979, P. 48
The SOCAP Workshop Summary, The Nature Trust, 1989.
Museum Specimens
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