Ferns might be my favorite plant group. Many share a recognizable morphology—a “ferny” look—yet they’re a class of plants with gorgeous structural diversity. Yesterday I took a walk at Gilsland Farm with a macro lens to see what species were up.
I bumped into a fern about forty-five seconds after leaving the Visitor Center. The delicate Lady Fern is more sun and drought tolerant than other species, and popped up at the top of the connector trail leading down to the marsh. Lady Ferns have thin, light-green-to-reddish grooved stems that are littered with thin brown scales, giving them a sort of “hairy leg” look. Their lobes have forking veins.
Next down the trail are Cinnamon Ferns, which take hairy to a new level. These fiddleheads are covered head-to-toe in tannish-white fuzz, making them unpalatable to animals tha twant to eat the leaves before they’re able to open and photosynthesize. The hairs will remain on the stem beyond the fiddlehead stage, and birds—hummingbirds in particular—gather and use it for soft nest material. These ferns typically grow a few feet tall, but can reach five feet or more if they have constant moisture. I’m 5’1,” and I’ll be thrilled if the plants beside the boardwalk overtake me this summer.
Scattered among the Cinnamon Ferns, in the wettest parts of the soil, are Ostrich Ferns. These are the edible fiddleheads, identified by their vibrant green, smooth, deeply-grooved stems and the brown papery material covering the fiddlehead. The mature fronds are widest just above their middle (ostrich feather-shaped). Those fully-grown leaves resemble Cinnamon Ferns, so if you’re stuck between two IDs, take a peek under the hood: on the undersides of Cinnamon Fern fronds, white tufts are visible at the base of each leaflet growing from the stem (hairy armpits!) Not so on Ostrich Ferns.
On the north side of the boardwalk, there are newly-unfurled Sensitive Ferns. They’re gorgeous at this stage, with widely spaced shiny green leaflets blushed with red around the margins. As they grow, their appearance will soften into large, grass-green fronds. Those fronds are pinnatifid, which means that the leaflets aren’t entirely separated from each other. A continuation of leaf tissue runs along each side of the stem, connecting each leaflet to the next. This, and their lack of subleaflets, give Sensitive Ferns a simpler, less feathery look than the other ferns described here.
Several weeks after fiddleheads emerge, look for the growth of fertile fronds of three of these species. Cinnamon, Ostrich, and Sensitive Ferns have dimorphic fronds; their spore-producing and non-spore-producing fronds look very different. The fertile fronds grow after the first leaves are open, and look like a stalk covered in little beads. The “beads” are actually modified leaflets, curled up and protecting the spores. As they mature, they turn brown (or cinnamon-colored, in the case of the Cinnamon Fern!). As with most leaves in the fall, it’s best to leave them be. Spores won’t be released from these structures until winter or spring.
Ferns are more than 300 million years old—older than trees and flowering plants! Though their dominance waned as the climate got drier, they still thrive in wet, shady areas. Ferns are beautiful, hardy ground cover, and their fronds are food for caterpillars of many species. If you want more ferns in your life, (as we all do!), check our online Native Plants Sale May 1-30. If you don’t see a species you’re looking for, it may be added later in the coming weeks. Our Native Plants Sale and Festival at Gilsland Farm will take place on June 7, and online sales will continue from June 13 through October. Also keep an eye out for Native Plant ID walks at Gilsland Farm this summer.
