Ways to Identify a Fern

There are 12,000 different species of ferns! They like to grow in warm, moist, and shady areas. This is why the ferns like to grow in your walking path! The cover from the trees and the dew from the streams and ponds provide the damp and dark home they love. 

The ferns you will see are growing out of the ground in groups called sori. However, some species can float on the surface of ponds! 

Baby ferns have green stems and a fuzzy, spiral curl at the top. How cute! Some adult ferns can grow up to 80 feet long! The ones you will see average around 7 inches in length. 

Ferns don't have flowers or seeds. How weird! Instead, they have these tiny things called spores. Spores get to new places by the wind, and once they land, new ferns will start to grow! Even stranger, they can grow more of themselves straight out of their roots! 

The leaves, called fronds, are really sensitive to frost, and die after frost touches them.