Birds and Blooms 2: Ferns

Okay, these aren’t ferns. They’re lovely though — tiny flowers sprinkled here and there in the woods.

But ferns are what we’re beginning to notice and learn about, and ferns are unfolding all around.

We saw these fern fiddleheads two weeks ago. We’ve seen this kind in two different locations. Each week, they’ve progressed, despite cold weather. Last week they opened their fists just a little.

This week, they developed still more, and this morning I tried to figure out what kind they were using the Handbook of Nature Study and the resources supplied in the More Nature Study Spring Outdoor Hour Challenges ebook. I’m pretty sure they are interrupted fern. Especially since seeing them yesterday, with their darker green pinnae covered with spore cases. The darker green sporangia will dry up and leave empty spots on the stem after the spores are distributed. I think they’re quite beautiful…

I’m not sure whether these ferns are all the same kind. The spore cases are light green in some (they look like clusters of grapes), dark green in others. Maybe the darker ones are further along; I think they turn brown eventually. Time will tell.

There are two other kinds we’ve seen too. One, I’m guessing, is bracken.

It was growing on a shaded creek bank.

The other species is still a mystery to me. It’s very delicate.

I’ve never paid that much attention to plants before; I’m more naturally drawn to critters and birds. But we’ve been enjoying our fern-hunting. It’s something to notice, the changes in the plants along the path — something to “read” that affirms the progress of spring.