Alpine Bladder-fern vs Cuna de Venus

Cystopteris alpina compared with Anguloa cliftonii

Key Differences

• Alpine Bladder-fern is Near Threatened while Cuna de Venus is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Alpine Bladder-fern	Cuna de Venus
Kingdom same	Plantae (planta)	Plantae (planta)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Liliopsida (Monocots)
Order	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)	Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family	Cystopteridaceae	Orchidaceae
Genus	Cystopteris	Anguloa
Species	Cystopteris alpina	Anguloa cliftonii

Evolutionary Relationship

Alpine Bladder-fern and Cuna de Venus share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Plantae. (planta)

Conservation Status

Alpine Bladder-fern

NT — Near Threatened

Cuna de Venus

CR — Critically Endangered

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Alpine Bladder-fern	Cuna de Venus
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Alpine Bladder-fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Distributed across Norway and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Cuna de Venus

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Alpine Bladder-fern

The Alpine Bladder-fern (Cystopteris alpina) is a species in the genus Cystopteris. It is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies. Distributed across Norway and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Cuna de Venus

Clifton's Anguloa, Anguloa cliftonii, is a striking terrestrial orchid in the family Orchidaceae native to the cloud forests of the Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The genus Anguloa, known as cradle orchids or tulip orchids, is celebrated among orchid enthusiasts for its large, tulip-shaped, waxy flowers that rock gently when moved, simulating the movement of a bee—a presumed pollination adaptation. The flowers of Anguloa cliftonii are creamy white to pale yellow, often with pink or rose spotting, and are produced singly on erect peduncles arising from the base of large, pleated pseudobulbs. The plant is a cool-growing epiphyte or lithophyte found in humid montane forest at elevations between approximately 1,500 and 2,500 meters in the Andes. Anguloa species are pollinated by male euglossine bees attracted to fragrant compounds. The cloud forest habitats of the Andes are among the world's most biodiverse ecosystems and simultaneously among the most threatened, subject to deforestation for agriculture, cattle ranching, and coca cultivation. Many Andean orchid species are also threatened by over-collection for the horticultural trade. Anguloa cliftonii is cultivated in specialist collections and is the subject of conservation concern in its native range.