Cystopteris bulbifera

From Canada south to Alabama, you will find this cute little fern growing among alkaline rocks and in dense woods. If I were a taxonomist, I'd tell you that it has monomorphic leaves, uniformly brown scales, and unicellular gland-tipped hairs covering the rachis. I forgot to mention that the proximal pinnae are pinnate-pinnatifid to pinnatifid, and the equilateral, basiscopic pinnules are not enlarged and of course, the indusia have a truncate apex. In the world of horticulture, this gem makes a 12" tall x 24" wide clump with cutleaf light green foliage that forms small bulblets in late summer that drop to the ground and grow new plants...great for sharing with neighbors.