The hardy perennial ferns that thrive here in the
mountains of Maryland are true surrvivors for your garden.
Ferns:
"Amphibians" of the plant kingdom, ferns for
part of the life cycle are, in essence,
aquatic.
There are around 12,000 species of ferns, and they include some
of the most popular of all nursery plants. They are found throughout
the earth. In the United States they are usually found in woodlands,
meadows, and along roads or stream banks. Generally they are in
moist areas but can also be found in direct sunlight. They have
roots, stems, and leaves of all vascular plants. Fern leaves are
called fronds. Except for tropical tree ferns (to 80 feet high), the
majority are close to the ground, but extrodinary diversity exists
on the basic plan, and yet they have so many common characteristics
they can be logically discussed as a single group.
In other words, although thier
roots grow into the rooting vegetation that collects in the crevices
of trees, they do not draw food from the trees upon which they are
physically supported. But ferns can also be terrestrial. The
terestrial kinds thrive in the shady, humid atmosphere at the base
of trees, or anywhere else at ground level where there is an
adequate supply of leafmold-enriched soil for thier roots. Both epiphytic and terestrial ferns need high
humidity to keep thier fronds firm.
The fronds and feeding roots of most kinds of
fern grow from rhizomes, which are fleshy stems that generally serve
as storage organs. Rhizomes usually grow horizontally underground,
but those ferns of the genera Pyllitis and Polystichum, for instance, are stemlike,
short, and branching. Rhizomes of other ferns can creep or cling
aboveground, or they can extend horizontally underground, as in the
adianthums. Fern rhizomes are always alike,
though, in that they are coated, to a greater or lesser degree, in a
furry, scaly covering that is black, brown, or silvery
white.
The quantity of roots growing from rhizomes
depends largely on the form of the rhizome itself. For example, the
underground rhizome of a terrestrial fern is certain to have a much
denser root system than that of an epiphytic plant. In all types of
fern though, the roots tend to be thin and wiry.
The fronds, which are a combination of stalk
and leaflike blade, vary enormously in size and shape. Frond size
can range in length from a few inches to many feet, and in width
from an inch to as much as 3 feet or better. Frond stalks are
virtually absent in plants of some genera (for instance
Platycerium... Stag Horn), whereas in others, such as the polypodiums, they account for more than half
the total length of the frond.
Since ferns are non-flowering plants, it
follows that they do not produce seed for propagation. Instead,
ferns reproduce themselves by means of spores, wich are carried by
the millions on some-not-all-fronds.
Certain ferns reproduce not only by means of
spores but also by growing baby ferns on
thier fronds. These are generally known as bulbils, although thay
are not technically bulbs, and these can be easilly detatched and
used for propagation.
These long red buttons are linked to Fern Planting instructions.
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