Ferns are very common sight at this time of year
AS bluebells come into full bloom and carpet the floors of wild woodlands, together with Ramson, the heady-scented and white-flowered wild garlic, the apple-green fronds of Soft Shieldfern stand boldly above them the leaves arranged in the familiar conical shape of a shuttlecock, the high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton.
The waist-high fronds of Soft Shield-fern arise from the underground root and form an open cone splaying outwards and slowly sagging under their own weight. The fresh growth is soft and pale green in sharp contrast to last year’s shrivelled and withered brown offerings still lingering in places following the recent mild winter.
Soft Shield-fern grows all over Ireland and is extremely common in woods and shady hedge-banks. It becomes uncommon along the extreme western seaboard where it is unable to withstand the exposure and dampness.
While conical growths occur at this time of year, perfect shuttlecocks are unusual as the growing ferns get crowded out by neighbouring plants and other vegetation.
Ferns differ from flowering plants in that they don’t bear flowers and they reproduce by means of spores rather than seeds.
A seed is the offspring of two parents. The seed is formed when a male pollen grain fertilises a female ovule. The seed possesses two sets of genetic material, one inherited from each parent. Seeds are usually housed in fruits that form in flowers.
A spore, on the other hand, is the offspring of one parent: sex is not involved in its formation. Spores are housed in covered piles on the backs of the leaves or fronds of ferns; there are no fruits or flowers.
Mature ferns shed their spores onto the soil underneath. The spores germinate and produce tiny heart-shaped plants. These tiny plants bear separate male and female sex organs, and these normally ripen at different times to avoid the plants breeding with themselves.
Cross-fertilisation is the norm; one plant will fertilise another. The male sperm cells swim in rainwater, so ferns grow only in damp places where films of surface water aid reproduction.
The successfully fertilised female egg begins to divide to produce the new plant, that is, the familiar fern. So, while the fern has two parents it does not breed with other ferns; instead it produces spores and it is these spores that reproduce to make more ferns.
To experience these wonders, a walk in your local Bluebell wood is a must at this time of year.