So this Tuesday our wonderful volunteer in the wildflower garden, Susanne, led the rest of the volunteers (and Natural Areas interns) on a fern identification walk and I though I share some of the plants we saw.

First we have one of my favorite ferns Dryopteris marginalis the Marginal Shield Fern. Called marginal because its sori (spore bearing bodies) occur along the margins of its frondlets. I really appreciate this plant's combined drought hardiness and shade tolerance.

Here we see a large gorgeous population of Matteuccia struthiopteris or Ostrich Fern. This floodplain species is called Ostrich Fern because its fronds reminded early Americans of ostrich tail feathers. This plant is both adored and despised. Adored for its edible fiddleheads in the spring and despised by some gardeners because of its tenacity. It is very hard to remove once it has been established and can become agressive in the right conditions.

Finally we have one of the most delicate and beautiful ferns in the northeast Adiantum pedatum, the Maidenhair Fern. This ferns frondlets are reminiscent of fish tails or ginkgo leaves. As all ferns frond unfurl they do so according to the fibonacci sequence, but none more so than this one.