Fun Facts About Ferns

A holly fern in the landscape. Photo Credit: Matt Lollar, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County

On a recent episode of Celebrity Jeopardy, one of the categories featured answers all about ferns.  The category got me thinking about all the confusing things about ferns.

First of all, are ferns even plants at all?  Yes, but there are some unique characteristics that make them stand out.  Ferns are vascular plants like most all of our other landscape and house plants, but they do not produce flowers, fruits, and seeds like other vascular plants.  Instead, they produce spores in small, round structures called sporangia that are usually on the undersides of leaves.  Sporangia are also found on fungi and algae.

A pretty noticeable feature about ferns is their leaves.  Fern leaves are called fronds which consist of many small leaflets called pinnae.  Fronds have a feather-like appearance that give most ferns a fine texture that softens the landscape.  Sterile, non-spore producing fronds called fiddleheads develop from the center of the plants in early spring.  They are called fiddleheads because they are curled like the top of a fiddle when they first emerge.  The fiddleheads of some fern species are prized by chefs for their delicate flavor and crunchy texture.  Fertile, spore producing fronds develop later in the season.

A Japanese painted fern in the landscape. Photo Credit: Matt Lollar, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County

When grown outdoors, most ferns do best in spots that receive filtered light or a bit more shade.  However, some species of ferns that are grown indoors may need a little more light.  Ferns like high humidity environments which is why we usually see them growing in floodplains and in wetlands in the wild.  Indoor ferns should be watered thoroughly whenever the soil surface begins to feel dry.  Choose potting soils with a high percentage of peat moss for its moisture retaining properties.  And make sure you don’t over-fertilize.