This fern is rare in its natural habitats and is a characteristic species of the alder carrs in the Alno – Ulmion Alliance. It grows alongside streams and rivers and in wet grasslands. It has been found in numerous locations in Poland, in the lower parts of the Carpathians and the western Sudeten and, very rarely, in the lowlands. The sites referred to in the title of this article are small and extend to just hundreds of square meters. They are located in the lowlands of the Sieniawskie Forests in the Sandomierz Basin, in the Subcarpathia. The first site is near the village of Rudka on the banks of the River Lubenia, an eastern tributary of the River San. The second is on the eastern edge of the woodland in Radawa on the banks of the River Radawka, a tributary of the River Lubaczowka which feeds into the River San. The author proposes that both of these ostrich fern sites should be given legal protection because they could be destroyed by canalisation of the water courses and are also at risk from fern collecting for gardens.
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