Hard fern
Struthiopteris spicant
Family · Blechnaceae · Harmless
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The fern with two completely different leaves on the same plant, which is what makes it unmistakable: some spread in a rosette, broad and comb-shaped, others standing in the middle, narrow and almost fleshless.
Uplands · Oak woods · Streams and ditches · Pine woods
Also known asdeer fern
How to tell it
The sterile fronds lie in a rosette, dark green and leathery, with broad lobes lined up like comb teeth. The fertile ones stand in the centre, taller and far narrower, their segments reduced to strips covered in spores beneath. Acid soils only.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
No relevant use. It is one of the best indicators of acid, damp soil there is, and among the plants that vanish fastest when a valley is drained or planted with eucalyptus.