Cystopteris protrusa is a common fern of North America, commonly known as the lowland bladderfern, lowland brittle fern or lowland fragile fern. The plant is native to eastern Canada, and the Midwestern and Eastern United States. Throughout much of its range it is the most common Cystopteris fern species.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Cystopteris protrusa has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens7
Marker genes3
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections6
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK3★rbcL7★rbcLa
plant barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualCystopteris protrusa carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Haufler, C. H. & D. E. Soltis. 1986. Genetic evidence suggests that homosporous ferns with high chromosome numbers are diploid. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83: 4389–4393.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Reeves, T. 1978. In IOPB chromosome number reports LIX. Taxon 27: 53–61.
CCDB · book-ipcn75-78 — Reeves 1978
CCDB · book-ipcn73-74 — VIDA, G. 1974. Genome analysis of the European Cystopteris fragilis complex. I. Tetraploid taxa. Acta Bot. Acad. Sci. Hung. 20: 181 192
CCDB · Cave1956 — Wagner & Hagenah
CCDB · Cave1963 — Blasdell 1963
07Deep time~18.3 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin18.3 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type3 708 records
Wild obs. + sensor2 505
Museum / vouchered1 203
Origin
Native1
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO9 592 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy79% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 355≤1 km 294≤10 km 112>10 km 324
2 085 georeferenced · 420 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor2 505
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy57% within 1 km
≤100 m 139≤1 km 299≤10 km 304>10 km 22
764 georeferenced · 439 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 203
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions63 of 90 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Bloomington, US
134
Wuzhou, CN
124
Chapel Hill, US
124
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
90
Minia, EG
84
Saint Louis, US
65
Longwood Universitylocation not on record
45
Philadelphia, US
45
Jackson, US
32
Bronx, US
30
St. Paul, US
28
Chicago, US
27
Madison, US
23
Ann Arbor, US
23
Morgantown, US
20
Williamsburg, US
17
Tuscaloosa, US
17
Appalachian State Universitylocation not on record
15
Knoxville, US
11
Millersville, US
11
Fort Worth, US
11
Chadron, US
11
Pittsburg, US
10
DOI/NPS, Mississippi National River & Recreation Arealocation not on record
10
Philadelphia, US
10
James F. Matthews Center for Biodiversity Studieslocation not on record
9
Burlington, US
9
Davenport, US
7
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
7
Johnson City, US
6
Tampa, US
6
Durham, US
6
Mississippi State, US
6
Lincoln, US
5
Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record
5
GB
5
Riverside, US
5
University of Southern Mississippilocation not on record
4
Asheville, US
4
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
3
Fairfax, US
3
US
3
Austin, US
3
Flagstaff, US
3
Kirksville, US
3
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
3
Norfolk, US
3
GAlocation not on record
3
Whitewater, US
2
Springfield, US
2
Elikins, US
2
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record
2
Valdosta State Universitylocation not on record
2
LINUlocation not on record
2
ASUlocation not on record
2
Beijing, CN
2
US
2
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
2
Little Rock, US
2
Richmond, US
2
Waverly, US
2
Corvallis, US
1
Boise, US
1
AUAlocation not on record
1
Royal Ontario Museum, Green Plant Herbarium (TRT)location not on record
1
DOI/NPS, Selma to Montgomery National Historic Traillocation not on record
1
Cincinnati, US
1
Conway, US
1
Conway, US
1
San Diego, US
1
Decorah, US
1
Texas A&M Universitylocation not on record
1
Dekalb, US
1
Brookings, US
1
BAYLUlocation not on record
1
Pullman, US
1
US
1
Auckland, NZ
1
Jefferson City, US
1
Western Carolina Universitylocation not on record
1
Columbia, US
1
Whitehorse, CA
1
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (MNCR)location not on record
1
Macomb, US
1
University of North Carolina at Pembrokelocation not on record
1
Bangkok, TH
1
Meguro Parasitological Museumlocation not on record
1
Lord Fairfax Community Collegelocation not on record
1
Toronto, CA
1
University of Tennessee at Chattanoogalocation not on record
1
90 institutions · 1 183 of 1 203 vouchered records shown · 17 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA6 detections
Where the DNA of Cystopteris protrusa was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found6
Studies independent surveys1
Countries2
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 6 detections have coordinates
Open the map2 countries0
Lower valley shoulder, approx. 20m from suga…
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median12.5 °C 12.5–17.7
Seasonal swing summer↔winter27.0 °C
Max temp (day)18.4 °C 18.4–21.9
Min temp (night)8.20 °C 8.20–14.3
Precipitation79.6 mm/mo 79.6–94.2
Air humidity57.3 % 57.3–57.8
Moisture balance-38.4 mm/mo -57.8–-38.4
Vapour deficit733 Pa 733–905
Wind speed5.80 m/s 4.50–5.80
Cloud cover36.7 % 36.7–39.4
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 4 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility3 708 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI6 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics7 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗