''Sceptridium biternatum'', the southern grapefern or sparse-lobe grape fern , is a perennial
fern in the family
Ophioglossaceae
Ophioglossaceae, the adder's-tongue family, is a small family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is the only family in the order Ophioglossales, which together with the Psilotales is placed in the sub ...
, occurring in eastern North America. It occurs in "low woods, in hardwood and pine forests, in fields, and on roadsides." Like other grape ferns, it depends on a
mycorrhizal association in the soil to survive.
In the fall its leaves and stem turn a reddish-brown / bronze color; a local name for it is “red fern”.
References
Ophioglossaceae
Ferns of the United States
{{Fern-stub