Mt Toby Ferns
On August 26, 2023, Randy Stone of Pioneer Fern Society, led a small group on a tour of ferns found at Mt Toby, Sunderland, MA, USA
The tour started at the parking lot at 436/438 Long Plain Rd, Rte 63, Leverett, MA.
Link to Mt Toby Trail Map.
The tour included the 'Roaring Falls'.
22 species of ferns were listed on handout that would be seen on the tour. 9 species were listed as uncommon. The other 13 are ferns typically found in a New England mesic forest.
The uncommon species are Goldie's Fern, Maidenhair Fern, Silvery Glade Fern, Narrow-leaved Glade Fern, Narrow Beech Fern, Walking Fern, Cut-leaf Grape Fern, Bulblet Fern, and MacKay's Fragile Fern.
Much of the tour was off trail as ferns don't have to make their home on trails.
On November 24, 2023, Randy Stone conducted another Mt. Toby tour of ferns to look for ferns seen in winter (without snow). The tour started at the Reservation Road parking lot.
Christmas Fern, Evergreen Wood Fern, Marginal Wood Fern, Common Polypody, Maidenhair Spleenwort, Ebony Spleenwort, and Dissected Grape Fern were on the list of ferns to be seen on the tour.
The fern I found most interesting was the Dissected Grape fern, Spectridium dissectum, that was now bronze in color, not green. Difficult to spot as the frond is the color of the leaf litter. There was a good size colony.
The tour climbed to the Sunderland Caves. We didn't go inside. https://myhikes.org/trails/sunderland-caves-hike
Another trail that starts on Claybrook Rd, West side, has many species right on the trail, including Walking Fern and Fragile Fern.
Here's the inaturalist.org observation map of Mt. Toby.
This map shows that Mt. Toby is a popular naturlist place and great place to look for ferns.