Brittle Bladder Fern

Brittle bladder fern, Cystopteris fragilis, is a small, delicate fern of the family Cystopteridaceae with one of the widest natural distributions of any fern species, found across cool temperate and mountainous regions of nearly every continent. It typically grows from crevices in rock outcrops, cliffs and stone walls, and its common name refers both to its thin, easily torn fronds and to the small bladder-like, inflated covering that protects its clusters of spores before they mature.