? Ferns (Pteridophyta)
Ferns at the Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pteridophyta
Classes
Marattiopsida Osmundopsida Gleicheniopsida Pteridopsida Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 746 KB) Ferns, Melbourne Botanical Gardens File links The following pages link to this file: Fern ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Orders Marattiales Christenseniales The Marattiales are basal ferns that are quite different from many plants familiar to people in temperate zones. ... Orders Subclass: Gleicheniatae Gleicheniales (the forked ferns) Dipteridales Matoniales Subclass: Hymenophyllatae Hymenophyllales (the filmy ferns) Subclass: Hymenophyllopsitae Hymenophyllopsidales The ferns in the class Gleicheniopsida were formerly all included in the order Polypodiales. ... Subclasses Subclass: Cyatheatae Subclass: Schizaeatae Subclass: Pteriditae Subclass: Polypoditae The Pteridopsida is a class of plants in the Division Pteridophyta that includes the modern ferns. ...

A fern, or pteridophyte, is any one of a group of some twenty thousand species of plants classified in the Division Pteridophyta, formerly known as Filicophyta. A fern is a vascular plant that differs from the more primitive lycophytes in having true leaves (megaphylls) and from the more advanced seed plants (gymnosperms and angiosperms) in lacking seeds. Like all vascular plants, it has a life cycle—often referred to as alternation of generations—characterized by a diploid sporophytic and a haploid gametophytic phase. Unlike the gymnosperms and angiosperms, in ferns the gametophyte is a free-living organism. The life cycle of a typical fern is as follows: Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Divisions Non-seed-bearing plants Equisetophyta Lycopodiophyta Psilotophyta Pteridophyta Superdivision Spermatophyta Pinophyta Cycadophyta Ginkgophyta Gnetophyta Magnoliophyta The vascular plants are a plant group including the ferns, clubmosses, horsetails, flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms. ... Classes Lycopodiopsida - clubmosses Selaginellopsida - spikemosses Isoetopsida - quillworts The division Lycopodiophyta is a tracheophyte subdivision of the Kingdom Plantae that includes some of the most primitive of extant (living) vascular plants. ... In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... The spermatophytes comprise those plants that produce seeds. ... Coast Douglas-fir cone, from a tree grown from seed collected by David Douglas Gymnosperms are seed-bearing, vascular plants. ... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... A seed is the ripened ovule of gymnosperm or angiosperm plants. ... A life cycle includes the major sexual stages of a species, especially in regard to its ploidy. ... Sporic or diplohaplontic life cycle. ... Diploid (meaning double in Greek) cells have two copies (homologs) of each chromosome (both sex- and non-sex determining chromosomes), usually one from the mother and one from the father. ... A sporophyte is the diploid structure or phase of life of a sexually reproducing plant. ... Haploid (meaning simple in Greek) cells have only one copy of each chromosome. ... A gametophyte is the haploid structure or phase of life of a sexually reproducing plant. ...

1. A sporophyte (diploid) phase produces haploid spores by meiosis;
2. A spore grows by cell division into a gametophyte, which typically consists of a photosynthetic thallus;
3. The gametophyte produces gametes (often both sperm and eggs on the same thallus) by mitosis;
4. A mobile, flagellate sperm fertilizes an egg that remains attached to the thallus;
5. The fertilized egg is now a diploid zygote and grows by mitosis into a sporophyte (the typical "fern" plant)

A sporophyte is the diploid structure or phase of life of a sexually reproducing plant. ... Diploid (meaning double in Greek) cells have two copies (homologs) of each chromosome (both sex- and non-sex determining chromosomes), usually one from the mother and one from the father. ... Haploid (meaning simple in Greek) cells have only one copy of each chromosome. ... The term spore has several different meanings in biology. ... In biology, meiosis is the process that transforms one diploid cell into four haploid cells in eukaryotes in order to redistribute the diploids cells genome. ... A gametophyte is the haploid structure or phase of life of a sexually reproducing plant. ... Gametes (in Greek: γαμέτες) —also known as sex cells, germ cells, or spores—are the specialized cells that come together during fertilization (conception) in organisms that reproduce sexually. ... The signifier sperm can refer to: (mass noun, from Greek sperma = seed) a substance which consists of spermatozoa and which is a component of semen (mass noun) semen itself (informally, count noun with plural sperm or sperms) a single spermatozoon (= sperm cell) sperma ceti (Latin ceti, genitive of cetus = whale... Look up Egg on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Freerange eggs in straw nest Egg has multiple meanings: The term is used synonymously with ovum, the female sex cell in animals and plants. ... Light micrograph of a newt lung cell in early anaphase of mitosis. ... A flagellum (plural, flagella) is a whip-like organelle that many unicellular organisms, and some multicellular ones, use to move about. ... A zygote (Greek: ζυγωτόν) is a cell that is the result of fertilization. ...

Fern structure

Like the sporophytes of seed plants, those of ferns consist of:

• Stems: Most often an underground creeping rhizome, but sometimes an above-ground creeping stolon (e.g., Polypodiaceae), or an above-ground erect semi-woody trunk (e.g. Cyatheaceae).
• Leaf: The green, photosynthetic part of the plant. In ferns it is often referred to as a frond, but this is because of the historical division between people who study ferns and people who study seed plants, rather than because of differences in structure. New leaves typically expand by the unrolling of a tight spiral (the fiddlehead), called circinate vernation. Leaves are further divided into two types:
  • Sporophyll: A leaf that produces spores. These leaves are analogous to the scales of pine cones or to stamens and pistil in gymnosperms and angiosperms, respectively. Unlike the seed plants, however, the sporophylls of ferns typically aren't very specialized, looking similar to trophophylls and producing sugars by photosynthesis as the trophophylls do.
  • Trophophyll: A leaf that does not produce spores, instead only producing sugars by photosynthesis. Analogous to the typical green leaves of seed plants.
• Roots: The underground non-photosynthetic structures that take up water and nutrients from soil. They are always fibrous and are structurally very similar to the roots of seed plants.

Tree ferns, probably Dicksonia antarctica

The gametophytes of ferns, however, are very different from those of seed plants. They typically consist of: A stem is the above ground axis of a vascular plant. ... Ginger rhizome In botany, a rhizome is a usually-underground, horizontal stem of a plant that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. ... A stolon is an aerial shoot from a plant with the ability to produce adventitious roots and new offshoots of the same plant. ... In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... Look up Green on Wiktionary, the free dictionary ALL YOU NEED IS MONEY MONEY MONEYGreen is a color seen commonly in nature. ... Leaf. ... A fern with simple (lobed or pinnatifid) blades, the dissection of each blade not quite reaching to the rachis. ... Fiddlehead is a name referring either to a young fern or to the top part of immature fronds that appear curled. ... This Australian tree fern is producing a new frond by the process of circinate vernation Vernation (from vernal, since that is when leaves spring forth in Temperate regions) is the formation of new leaves or fronds. ... A sporophyll is a a spore-bearing leaf located on plants such as ferns or algae. ... a cow In vascular plants, the root is that organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil (compare with stem). ... A fibrous root system (sometimes also called adventitious root system) is the opposite of a tap root system. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1484x1600, 1025 KB) Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) in Nunniong, Australia File links The following pages link to this file: Fern User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/July 2005 ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1484x1600, 1025 KB) Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) in Nunniong, Australia File links The following pages link to this file: Fern User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/July 2005 ...

• Thallus: A green, photosynthetic structure that is one cell thick, usually heart- or kidney-shaped and 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter. The thallus produces gametes by means of :
  • Antheridia: Small spherical structures that produce flagellate sperm.
  • Archegonia: A flask-shaped structure that produces a single egg at the bottom, reached by the sperm by swimming down the neck.
• Rhizoids: root-like structures that consist of single greatly elongated cells that take up water and nutrients.

Thallus is an undifferentiated vegetative tissue (without specialization of function) of some non-mobile organisms, which were previously known as the thallophytes. ... An antheridium (plural: antheridia) is a structure or organ of the gametophyte phase of certain plants producing and containing the sperm or male gametes. ... A flagellum (plural, flagella) is a whip-like organelle that many unicellular organisms, and some multicellular ones, use to move about. ... An archegonium (pl: archegonia) (from the Greek arche = beginning and gonos = born) is a multicellular structure or organ of the gametophyte phase of certain plants producing and containing the ovum or female gamete. ... Rhizoids, in fungi, are small branching hyphae that grow downwards from the stolons that anchor the fungus. ... a cow In vascular plants, the root is that organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil (compare with stem). ...

Evolution and classification

Ferns first appear in the fossil record in the early Carboniferous epoch. By the Triassic the first evidence of ferns related to several modern families appeared. The "great fern radiation" occurred in the late Cretaceous, when many modern families of ferns first appeared. The Carboniferous is a major division of the geologic timescale that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359. ... The Triassic is a geologic period that extends from about 245 to 202 Ma (million years ago). ... The Cretaceous period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic period (about 146 MYA) to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary period (65. ...

Ferns have traditionally been grouped in the Class Filices, but modern classifications assign them their own division in the plant kingdom, called Pteridophyta.

Two related groups of plants, commonly known as ferns, are actually more distantly related to the main group of "true" ferns. These are the whisk ferns (Psilophyta) and the adders-tongues, moonworts, and grape-ferns (Ophioglossophyta). The Ophioglossophytes were formerly considered true ferns and grouped in the Family Ophioglossaceae, but were subsequently found to be more distantly related. Some classification systems include the Psilopytes and Ophioglossophytes in Division Pteridophyta, while others assign them to separate divisions. Modern phylogeny indicates that the Ophioglossophytes, Psilopytes, and true ferns together constitute a monophyletic group, descended from a common ancestor. Families Psilotaceae Tmesipteridaceae Psilotophyta (the so-called whisk ferns; also sometimes as Psilophyta) is a division (i. ... Species Ophioglossum azoricum Ophioglossum engelmanii Ophioglossum lusitanicum Ophioglossum pycnosticum Ophioglossum vulgatum Adders-tongues are plants of the genus Ophioglossum, which means snake-tongue. Ophioglossum is in the family Ophioglossaceae, in the order Ophioglossales, a small group of vascular plants. ... Species Botrychium boreale Botrychium lanceolatum Botrychium lunaria Botrychium matricariifolium Botrychium simplex Moonwort is also a fernlike plant known as honesty. ... Species Botrypus virginianum Grape-ferns are seedless vascular plants of the genus Botrypus, closely allied to (and previously often included in) the genus Botrychium (moonworts). ... Families and Genera Family Ophioglossaceae Ophioglossum Cheiroglossa Family Botrychiaceae Botrychium Botrypus Sceptridium Family Helminthostachiaceae Helminthostachys zeylanica The Ophioglossophyta are a small group of plants. ... Species Ophioglossum azoricum Ophioglossum engelmanii Ophioglossum lusitanicum Ophioglossum pycnosticum Ophioglossum vulgatum Adders-tongues are plants of the genus Ophioglossum, which means snake-tongue. Ophioglossum is in the family Ophioglossaceae, in the order Ophioglossales, a small group of vascular plants. ...

The true ferns may be subdivided into four main groups, or classes (or orders if the true ferns are considered as a class):

• Marattiopsida
• Osmundopsida
• Gleicheniopsida
• Pteridopsida

The last group includes most plants familiarly known as ferns. The Marattiopsida are a primitive group of tropical ferns with a large, fleshy rhizome, and are now thought to be a sister taxon to the main group of ferns, the leptosporangiate ferns, which include the other three groups listed above. Modern research indicates that the Osmundopsida diverged first from the common ancestor of the leptosporangiate ferns, followed by the Gleichenopsida. Orders Marattiales Christenseniales The Marattiales are basal ferns that are quite different from many plants familiar to people in temperate zones. ... Orders Subclass: Gleicheniatae Gleicheniales (the forked ferns) Dipteridales Matoniales Subclass: Hymenophyllatae Hymenophyllales (the filmy ferns) Subclass: Hymenophyllopsitae Hymenophyllopsidales The ferns in the class Gleicheniopsida were formerly all included in the order Polypodiales. ... Subclasses Subclass: Cyatheatae Subclass: Schizaeatae Subclass: Pteriditae Subclass: Polypoditae The Pteridopsida is a class of plants in the Division Pteridophyta that includes the modern ferns. ...

A more complete classification scheme follows:

• Division: Pteridophyta
  • Class: Marattiopsida
    • Order: Marattiales
    • Order: Christenseniales

Fern leaf, probably Blechnum nudum

• • Class: Osmundopsida
    • Order: Osmundales (the flowering ferns)
  • Class: Gleicheniopsida
    • Subclass: Gleicheniatae
      • Order: Gleicheniales (the forked ferns)
      • Order: Dipteridales
      • Order: Matoniales
    • Subclass: Hymenophyllatae
      • Order: Hymenophyllales (the filmy ferns)
    • Subclass: Hymenophyllopsitae
      • Order: Hymenophyllopsidales

A tree fern unrolling a new frond

Tree fern, probably Dicksonia antarctica

• • Class: Pteridopsida
    • Subclass: Schizaeatae
      • Order: Schizeales (including the climbing ferns)
    • [heterosporous ferns]
      • Order: Marsileales (Hydropteridales) (the water-clovers, mosquito fern, water-spangle)
    • Subclass: Cyatheatae
      • Order: Cyatheales (the tree ferns)
      • Order: Plagiogyriales
      • Order: Loxomales
    • Subclass: Pteriditae
      • Order: Lindseales
      • Order: Pteridales (including the brakes and maidenhair ferns)
      • Order: Dennstaedtiales (the cup ferns)
      • Order: Hypolepidales (including bracken)
    • Subclass: Polypoditae
      • Order: Aspleniales (the spleenworts)
      • Order: Athyriales (including the lady ferns, ostrich fern, maiden ferns, etc.)
      • Order: Dryopteridales (the wood ferns and sword ferns)
      • Order: Davalliales (including the rabbits-foot ferns and Boston ferns)
      • Order: Polypodiales (including the rock-cap ferns or Polypodies)

Orders Marattiales Christenseniales The Marattiales are basal ferns that are quite different from many plants familiar to people in temperate zones. ... Orders Marattiales Christenseniales The Marattiopsida are primitive ferns that are largely quite different from many of the plants that are familiar to people in temperate zones. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x880, 248 KB) Ferns (Blechnum nudum) in Nunniong, Australia File links The following pages link to this file: Plant Fern Embryophyte Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Tree of Life User talk:Tannin User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/July 2005 ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x880, 248 KB) Ferns (Blechnum nudum) in Nunniong, Australia File links The following pages link to this file: Plant Fern Embryophyte Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Tree of Life User talk:Tannin User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/July 2005 ... Orders Subclass: Gleicheniatae Gleicheniales (the forked ferns) Dipteridales Matoniales Subclass: Hymenophyllatae Hymenophyllales (the filmy ferns) Subclass: Hymenophyllopsitae Hymenophyllopsidales The ferns in the class Gleicheniopsida were formerly all included in the order Polypodiales. ... An Australian tree fern growing on Oahu, Hawaii. ... An Australian tree fern growing on Oahu, Hawaii. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 605 KB) Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) in Nunniong, Australia File links The following pages link to this file: Fern User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/July 2005 ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 605 KB) Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) in Nunniong, Australia File links The following pages link to this file: Fern User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/July 2005 ... Subclasses Subclass: Cyatheatae Subclass: Schizaeatae Subclass: Pteriditae Subclass: Polypoditae The Pteridopsida is a class of plants in the Division Pteridophyta that includes the modern ferns. ... Families Schizeaeceae Anemiaceae Lygodiaceae The Schizeales is an order of ferns (Class Pteridopsida). ... Species Lygodium palmatum - American climbing fern Lygodium japonicum - Japanese climbing fern Lygodium microphyllum The Climbing Ferns are an unusual group of plants (genus Lygodium) of tropical zones, with one temperate and one subtropical species. ... Families Azollaceae (mosquito ferns) Marsileaceae (water-clovers, pillworts) Salviniaceae (water-spangles) The Order Marsileales was formerly known as the Hydropteridales, but by modern rules of botanic nomenclature, the name has been changed. ... Species Azolla caroliniana Willd. ... Familes and Genera Cyatheaceae     Alsophila     Cnemidaria     Cyathea     Sphaeropteris     Trichipteris Dicksoniaceae     Calochleana     Cibotium     Culcita     Cystodium     Dicksonia     Thyrsopteris Losophoriaceae     Lophosoria Loxomaceae     Loxoma     Loxsomopsis Metaxyaceae     Metaxya The order Cyatheales is a taxonomic division of the fern (Division Pteridophyta) subclass, Cyatheatae, which includes the Tree ferns. ... Tree Fern refers to any fern that grows with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level. ... Families Acrostichaceae Adiantaceae Pellaeaceae Parkeriaceae Pteridaceae Vittariaceae The Pteridales are ferns that have their sori in linear strips under the edge of the leaf tissue, usually with the edge of the lamina reflexed over. ... Species Adiantum capillus-veneris - Venus-hair fern Adiantum pedatum - five-finger fern Adiantum peruvianum Adiantum raddianum Adiantum reniforme Maidenhair ferns are ferns of the genus Adiantum, which contains about 200 species. ... Species Pteridium aquilinum Pteridium caudatum Pteridium latiusculum and about 7-8 other species Brackens (Pteridium) are a genus of about ten species of large, coarse ferns, in the family Hypolepidaceae. ... Genera Asplenium Ceterach The family Aspleniaceae of ferns is the only family in the order Aspleniales. ... Species Asplenium bulbiferum - mother fern Asplenium nidus - birds-nest fern Asplenium platyneuron - ebony spleenwort Asplenium rhizophyllum - walking fern Asplenium scolopendrium - harts-tongue fern Asplenium trichomanes - maidenhair spleenwort Full list of Asplenium species The genus Asplenium of ferns is one of only two genera in the family Aspleniaceae. ... Families Athyriaceae - Lady Fern Family Blechnaceae - Chain Fern Family Onocleaceae - Sensitive Fern Family Woodsiaceae - Cliff Fern Family Cystopteridaceae - Fragile Fern Family Thelypteridaceae - Female Fern Family The Athyriales is one of the largest fern orders, including not only tropical ferns but many of the temperate ferns. ... Binomial name Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro The Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is a crown-forming, colony-forming fern, occurring in northern regions worldwide, and in northern/central North America. ... Families Dryopteridaceae Elaphoglossaceae Lomariopsidaceae The Dryopteridales are wood ferns and sword ferns. ... Binomial name Polystichum munitum (Kaulfuss) K. Presl The Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum) is a perennial fern, one of the most abundant ferns in the flora of western North America. ... Binomial name Nephrolepis exaltata (L.) Schott Deltoid pinnae The Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) is a spreading plant is often grown in hanging baskets or similar conditions. ... Families see text The order Polypodiales encompasses the major lineages of polypod ferns, which comprise more than 80% of todays fern species. ...

Economic uses

Ferns are not of major economic importance, with one possible exception. Ferns of the genus Azolla, which are very small, floating plants which do not look like ferns, and are called mosquito fern, are used as a biological fertilizer in the rice paddies of southeast Asia, taking advantage of their ability to fix nitrogen from the air into compounds that can then be used by other plants. Species Azolla caroliniana Willd. ... Species Azolla caroliniana Willd. ... Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form (N2) in the atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds useful for other chemical processes (such as, notably, ammonia, nitrate and nitrogen dioxide). ...

Other ferns with some economic significance include:

• Dryopteris filix-mas (male fern), used as a vermifuge
• Rumohra adiantoides (floral fern), extensively used in the florist trade
• Osmunda regalis (royal fern) and Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern), the root fiber being used horticulturally; the fiddleheads of O. cinnamomea are also used as a cooked vegetable
• Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern), the fiddleheads used as a cooked vegetable in North America
• Pteridium aquilinum (bracken), the fiddleheads used as a cooked vegetable in Japan
• Diplazium esculentum (vegetable fern), a source of food for some native societies
• Tree ferns, used as building material in some tropical locales

In addition, a great many ferns are grown in horticulture. A vermifuge is a substance used for worming, or expelling intestinal worms, or, rather, macroinvertebrate parasites of the intestines. ... Floristry or flower arranging is the art of creating bouquets and compositions from flowers, the major variety of floral design; often the floral design and floristry are considered synonymous. ... Binomial name Osmunda regalis L. Royal fern, Osmunda regalis, belongs to the oxymoronically named flowering fern family, so called because the densely-clustered sporangia resemble flowers. ... Binomial name Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro The Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is a crown-forming, colony-forming fern, occurring in northern regions worldwide, and in northern/central North America. ... Species Pteridium aquilinum Pteridium caudatum Pteridium latiusculum and about 7-8 other species Brackens (Pteridium) are a genus of about ten species of large, coarse ferns, in the family Hypolepidaceae. ... Vegetable fern (Athyrium esculentum)) is an edible fern found throughout Asia and Oceania. ... Tree Fern refers to any fern that grows with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level. ... Look up horticulture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Tree ferns, probably Dicksonia antarctica

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 846 KB) Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) in Nunniong, Australia v File links The following pages link to this file: Fern User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/July 2005 ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 846 KB) Ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) in Nunniong, Australia v File links The following pages link to this file: Fern User:Fir0002/Fir0002 gallery Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/July 2005 ...

Misunderstood names

Several non-fern plants are called "ferns" and are sometimes popularly believed to be ferns in error. These include:

• "Asparagus fern" - This may apply to one of several species of the monocot genus Asparagus, which are flowering plants. A better name would be "fern asparagus".
• "Sweetfern" - This is a shrub of the genus Comptonia.
• "Air fern" - This is an unrelated aquatic animal that is related to a coral; it is harvested, dried, dyed green, then sold as plant that can "live on air". It looks like a fern but is actually a skeleton.

In addition, the book Where the Red Fern Grows has elicited many questions about the mythical "red fern" named in the book. There is no such known plant, although there has been speculation that the Oblique grape-fern, Sceptridium dissectum, could be referred to here, because it is known to appear on disturbed sites and its fronds may redden over the winter. Orders Base Monocots: Acorus Alismatales Asparagales Dioscoreales Liliales Pandanales Family Petrosaviaceae Commelinids: Arecales Commelinales Poales Zingiberales Family Dasypogonaceae The Monocotyledons or monocots are an extremely important group of flowering plants, dominating great parts of the earth and with many economically important plants. ... Binomial name Asparagus officinalis L. Asparagus is the name of a vegetable obtained from one species within the genus Asparagus, specifically the young shoots of Asparagus officinalis. ... Binomial name Comptonia peregrina (L.) J.M.Coulter Comptonia is a genus of a single species, Comptonia peregrina, in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. ... Where the Red Fern Grows (ISBN 044022814X) is a 1961 novel by American author Wilson Rawls about a boy who acquires and trains two hunting dogs. ... Species Sceptridium dissectum Sceptridium multifidum Sceptridium rugulosum Sceptridium is a genus of seedless vascular plants, closely allied to (and previously often included in) the genus Botrychium (moonworts) and also closely related to the genus Botrypus (grape-ferns). ...

External links and sources

• Moran, Robbin C. (2004). A Natural History of Ferns. Portland, OR: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-667-1.

• Tree of Life Web Project: Filicopsida
• A classification of the ferns and their allies
• A fern book bibliography
• Register of fossil Pteridophyta
• L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (2004 onwards). The Ferns (Filicopsida) of the British Isles. http://delta-intkey.com