What's ailing the licorice ferns...?

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Splintercat
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What's ailing the licorice ferns...?

Post by Splintercat » June 13th, 2009, 2:46 pm

Over the past two seasons, I've noticed a progressive die-off of licorice ferns. These are normally among the toughest, hardiest plants around, needing only a patch of moss to grow in. It almost seems like some sort of virus has set in -- here's a photo from the Horsetail area, but the die-off extends from Bridal Veil to Starvation Creek:

Image

Anyone have info on this? I've never seen this happen before.

-Tom

cfm
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Re: What's ailing the licorice ferns...?

Post by cfm » June 14th, 2009, 9:38 am

Hi Tom,

Well don't despair yet. If you have recently observed this, you may just be seeing the annual dieback that occurs with this fern. It's perennial and always dies off in the summer heat. What is interesting is the "spring time" of licorice fern is actually in the fall! Keep your eye on the same spot, and look for new growth when the rains come in a few months.

See the second photo in this FG entry. I took the picture of that pika in November where I observed several of them gobbling up the tender new ferns growing in the talus.

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Re: What's ailing the licorice ferns...?

Post by Splintercat » June 14th, 2009, 9:26 pm

Well, I'll be darned! I didn't know that about this plant -- I always figured the new fronds rolled out in spring, with the rest of the ferns. I still think something is up, since it's pretty early for a die back on this scale, but maybe the harsh winter took it's toll..?

I'll keep my fingers crossed, and hope this isn't something more insidious...

Tom :?

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Re: What's ailing the licorice ferns...?

Post by Co-hort » May 21st, 2014, 10:23 am

I'm a NW native and a lifelong hiker. I was walking the Priest Point Park in Olympia, WA this last weekend (Mid-May 2014) and saw not a single living licorice fern. The ones still on the trees were all brown and desicated, brown fronds littered the forest floor. The moss on the big leaf maples where the licorice ferns typically thrive was also brown. I emailed the city parks and rec department and they assured me that it was normal - that the ferns are deciduous and the die-back was normal. I would expect summer die-back in the heat, though, and that they would have rebounded and be in full frond by now. I saw no sign of life from any of them. I've never seen such a bleak sight on a rainy afternoon in mid-May as a mature wooded ravine filled with big leaf maples, Douglas fir...brown moss and dead ferns. I think it's odd that after 50 years of hiking in NW forests I would see this for the first time, and in mid spring.

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