D. submontana was one of the very first ferns I was introduced to on my first WFS field trip in 1987 on the Gaitbarrows Nature reserve. This photo shows a typical habitat for Rigid buckler-fern - growing from a crack in limestone.

The slightly greyish green, deciduous leaves on brown stems are characteristic. The difficulty rating comes from the care which must be taken looking for any species on these limestone pavements. Gaitbarrows is a large expanse of this type of geological formation and apart from slipping you can easily get lost. Botanically though it is brilliant (and good for butterflies too).

D. submontana is a nationally scarce species with most records limited to the limestone areas in the north west England (north Lancashire and Cumbria in particular). There are only one or two records from Wales and Scotland and it has not been recorded from Ireland.

Gaitbarrows, Lancashire 12th June 2004

Added on January 24th 2005, updated 16th December 2008, updated 28th March 2010, updated 5th Dec 2014