65 Ferns

Of the divisions of spore-bearing vascular plants, most people know something about the Polipodiopsida or true ferns. They are found from Greenland to the Antarctic and, depending on the classification you use, contain between 40 and 77 families, with about 350 genera and more than 9000 species (ANBG 1998).

Ferns have a simple vascular system with true roots, stems and leaves that are called fronds. The trick to identifying ferns or any other plant, is deciding which differences matter and which don’t.

The shape and arrangement of fern parts helps to identify different species so you need to be know these parts, shown in the figure below.