This Week's Mystery Plant

Ancient and very beautiful: a plant group that has always fascinated humans…the ferns.

Fern-like plants began appearing in the fossil record nearly 400 million years ago, and for a long period, they and their relatives dominated the landscapes, long before any seed-forming plants evolved. In fact, coal deposits around the world are the remains of uncountable tons of ancient fern-like plants. Now, though, there are only about 10,000 living fern species world-wide, well fewer than the number of flowering plants which dominate most of our natural environments.

All ferns, of course, reproduce from minute spores, rather than seeds. These spores are always formed on the lower surface of a leaf (or "frond"). In some species, the spore-producing tissues are aggregated into scattered dots, which some people have mistaken as the result of a disease or insect infestation. Fern spores, once they reach the ground, begin a new plant that will eventually sprout characteristic leaves.

Our mystery fern, which was originally described in 1803 by the famous French botanist André Michaux, has its spores produced only on the far tips of certain fronds. The spore "dots" are easy to see; they are sometimes crowded into an orange-brown mass.

You can readily find our mystery plant in the woods, as it is very common, growing widely throughout the eastern half of North America. It is an attractive evergreen, and noticeable throughout the winter. It is fond of shady places, and is frequently found on rich, wooded slopes. In the spring, the young leaves begin growing with a prominent coiled aspect, much like the neck of a fiddle, and the young fronds are often called "fiddleheads". (This is actually characteristic of all fern species.) Our mystery fern adapts itself quite well to shade gardens, and is easy to grow.

Its deep green fronds are said to have been popular as an old-time Christmas decoration, and some people (not me) think that each of the small divisions of a frond resembles a Christmas stocking. (If you are interested in learning more about ferns, you might want to investigate an excellent book by Robbin C. Moran called "A Natural History of Ferns", published in 2004, by the Timber Press.) (Photo by Linda Lee.)

Photo by Linda Lee