Category: 03. Ferns

When the spore wall cracks under appropriate moist conditions, the fern gametophyte is formed. Emerging from the spore at the time of germination are a nongreen rhizoid (rootlike organ), which attaches the plant to the growing surface, and a green single cell—the mother cell that gives rise to the rest of the gametophyte. At first, in most homosporous ferns,…

Spore walls may be thick or thin. Thick-walled spores are capable of surviving for a number of years, in some cases up to several decades. Sporocarps (masses of sporangia) of 100-year-old waterclover (Marsilea) have been successfully germinated. Most natural germination of fern spores (except for water ferns) occurs on exposed damp surfaces of rock, on…

Most ferns are homosporous, each plant having spores of one shape and size, usually 30 to 50 micrometres in length or diameter, although some reach more than 100 micrometres. A few fern families, however, have dimorphic spores, small ones (microspores) and large ones (megaspores). The gametophytes of ferns with dimorphic spores are endosporous; that is, they do not emerge in germination and fail to…

The basic spore shape among ferns is tetrahedral; the proximal face (the one facing inward during the tetrad, or four-cell, stage following reduction division, or meiosis) is made up of three sloping planes, and the distal, or outer, face consists of a single rounded surface. The tetrahedral structure is commonly obscured in so-called globose spores, the walls of…

The fern spore—a single living cell, usually protected by a thick wall—is the main source of population dispersal, being readily carried by wind. Ferns display a wide diversity of spore types in terms of shape, wall structure, and sexuality, and these types prove to have great value in determining taxonomic relationships. The full functional significance of the different types,…

Ecologically, the ferns are most commonly plants of shaded damp forests of both temperate and tropical zones. Some fern species grow equally well on soil and upon rocks; others are confined strictly to rocky habitats, where they occur in fissures and crevices of cliff faces, boulders, and taluses. Acidic rocks such as granites, sandstones, and quartzites are associated with characteristic fern species different from those…

The typical fern, a sporophyte, consists of stem, leaf, and root; it produces spores; and its cells each have two sets of chromosomes, one set from the egg and one from the sperm. The sporophyte of most ferns is perennial (it lives for several years) and reproduces vegetatively by branching of the rootlike underground stem, or rhizome, often forming large, genetically uniform colonies, or clones. A few ferns propagate by…

As a group of plants, ferns are not of great economic value. Many different species have been used as a minor food source and for medicine in various parts of the world. Edible fern crosiers (young leaves with coiled hook-shaped tips) are popular in some areas. The ostrich fern (Matteuccia) of northeastern North America is frequently eaten, apparently with no ill…

Geographically, ferns are most abundant in the tropics. Arctic and Antarctic regions possess few species. On the other hand, a small tropical country such as Costa Rica may have more than 900 species of ferns—about twice as many as are found in all of North America north of Mexico. The finest display of fern diversity is seen in the tropical rainforests, where in only a few hectares…

The ferns are extremely diverse in habitat, form, and reproductive methods. In size alone they range from minute filmy plants only 1–1.2 cm (0.39–0.47 inch) tall to huge tree ferns 10 to 25 metres (30 to 80 feet) in height. Some are twining and vinelike; others float on the surface of ponds. The majority of ferns inhabit warm, damp areas…