Adiantum viridimontanum, the Green Mountain maidenhair fern, is a rare fern found in outcrops of serpentine rock in New England and Quebec. It is named after the site of its discovery in the Green Mountains in Vermont. Until 1991, it was grouped with the western maidenhair fern A. aleuticum, which itself was classified as a variety of the northern maidenhair fern A. pedatum. A. viridimontanum is a hybrid species and the other two ferns are distinct species, although it is difficult to distinguish between the three in the field. Due to the limited distribution of A. viridimontanum and its similarity to other species, little is known of its ecology. It thrives on sunny, disturbed areas where ultramafic rock is covered with thin soil, such as roadcuts, talus slopes, and asbestos mines. Individual plants seem long-lived, and new ones only infrequently reach maturity. One of four species endemic to serpentine in eastern North America, it is considered vulnerable due to its habitat restrictions.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiantum_viridimontanum

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1307:

Agents of King Philip IV of France launched a raid on the Knights Templar at dawn, arresting many members, subsequently torturing them into giving false confessions and burning them at the stake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar

1972:

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into a remote area in the Andes mountains near the border of Chile and Argentina; the 16 remaining survivors were not rescued until more than two months later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_Air_Force_Flight_571

2011:

The Dragon King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck married Jetsun Pema at the Punakha Dzong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punakha_Dzong

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

guttle: 1. (transitive) Often followed by down or up: to swallow (something) greedily; to gobble, to guzzle. 2. (intransitive) To eat voraciously; to gorge. 3. (Britain, dialectal) 4. An act of swallowing voraciously. 5. One who eats voraciously; a glutton. 6. (obsolete, rare) Something which is eaten voraciously. [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/guttle

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Prayers offered in times of peace are silent conversations, Appeals for love, or love's release, in private invocations But all that is changed now. Gone like a memory from the day before the fires. People hungry for the voice of God Hear lunatics and liars.Wartime prayers. Wartime prayers In every language spoken. For every family scattered and broken.   --Paul Simon https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Simon