Northern adder's-tongue doesn't look much like a fern, as it has a single, oval sterile frond, and a single fertile frond that looks like a double row of beads on a stalk. In Connecticut, it is a threatened plant, though it is more common in northern New England.
- Synonyms: Ophioglossum vulgatum
- Family: adder's-tongue (Ophioglossaceae)
- Habitat: fields, ditches, and woods in soil that is acidic and seasonally wet
- Height: 5-12 inches
- Location of spores: on a separate fertile frond at the apex of the main frond
- Petiole (leaf stalk): green, smooth and fragile
- Growth pattern: single leaf
- Persistence: deciduous
- Origin: native
This is the fertile part of northern adder's-tongue. The spores are released through the horizontal slits.