In Love with a Goblin...Fern

I have fallen in love with the Goblin Fern aka Botrychium mormo. It is by far the most adorable species of Botrychium. This probably because it is tiny (think a quarter inch to three and half inches tall) and looks somewhat like a yellowish-green elongated gummy bear.

The Goblin Fern is a special concern species and can only be found in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan with the most detections in Cass County, which is in the Chippewa National Forest. I'm proud to say I have contributed roughly 20 new detections this summer!

The reason this little guy is of special concern mainly for two reasons: habitat loss and invasive earthworms. I know what your thinking, how can earthworms be invasive? Well, because Minnesota was glaciated back in the day and that wiped out all the native earthworms. But, because there are 10,000 lakes in Minnesota, people love fishing and brought European earthworms, called Night Crawlers, here for fishing. The Goblin Fern calls home in hardwood forests that have a component of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and basswood (Tilia americana). It roots in the humus layer and leaf litter from these trees. If there is worm impact than the leaf littler layer is thin to nonexistent and B. mormo has nowhere to put down roots.

Because worm invasion is on the rise, elevating the Goblin Fern's status from "special concern" to "threatened"is being considered. To read more check this out.

The Goblin Fern is made up of two parts: the sporophore and the trophophore. In common speak, a spore-bearing structure and a single leaf. The sporangia are the yellowish spherical blobs on the sporophore.  

That is pink flagging tape about the Goblin Fern that we use to mark the location. 

Alien!

This picture appropriately has a heart-shaped leaf in the background. 

Here is an example of a sugar maple and basswood forest. And yes, sugar maple is the species that they use to tap the sap to make maple syrup. 

I can't get over how goofy some of them are!

On the right hand side of the picture is a large basswood, which is generally around which I find B. mormo. 

The sporangia on this one look like evil little goblin eyes. 

Huge!

I'm still surprised that I spotted these two little ones.

You might wonder how I find these tiny ferns. Well, lets just say I have run into and tripped over a fair number of trees while on the hunt.