Botany Photo of the Day

The sterile fronds do resemble ostrich fern; however, the fertile fronds are really reminiscent of cinnamon fern. Ostrich fern fertile fronds appear more structured, even when immature.

Back in the 1930s, my mother surrounded our cottage on three sides with beds of such ferns. Heaven help us if we shook blankets, or even thought about climbing over the railings. They were her pride and joy - huge lush things that looked wonderful and hid the bottom part of the cedar cottage walls.

Some friends rode their bicycles out from Toronto one summer, and mother thought she would learn to ride one. She got so she could do pretty well on the flat, and one day decided to go round the cottage - down a slope, across the flat and up a steeper slope. 'Twas the latter that got her - over she went into her lovely fern bed, squashing them flat. We tried fairly hard not to laugh, but never let her forget what she did to her own ferns.

I hate to quibble with a botanist but I must agree with Robert that these fertile fronds look much more like cinnamon fern than ostrich. I have both growing near my house here in Maine; cinnamon fern is "blooming" now, but ostrich fern's fertile fronds will not appear until later in the summer.

I think the photo is one of Cinnamon fern also. Oops!

Great pictures showing both the form of the whole cluster and a close-up of the fertile and leafy fronds. However, I question the identification and am inclined to agree with Robert above that this is a photo of Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern).

While Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern)is also a large, handsome fern whose fronds grow in a cluster and also has separate fertile and sterile fronds,the two have some different characteristics. The fertile frond pictured has the classic cinnamon color of Osmunda cinnamomea. It disperses its spores shortly after it reaches its full height,early in the season, and then withers away. The fertile frond of M. struthiopteris appears more mid-season and is first a very dark green and ages to a dark brown-black. The stiff structural part remains through the winter and disperses its spores before new leaves emerge in the following spring.

The leafy fronds of both ferns are similarly bipinnate. However the pinna of M. struthopteris are longest toward the top, perhaps 1/4 way down the rachis, and at the bottom are very tiny. The sterile fronds of O. cinnamomea, however, are widest in the bottom half, and the lowest pinna are smallish but not tiny. Only O. cinnamomea has wooly tufts on the back where the pinna join the rachis.

Both ferns enjoy damp to wet soils. They are easily confused. At least that's the way it is in New England.

I don't understand the phrase "photosynthetic spores."

Are the spores photosynthetic while the are growing on the fertile frond?

Our readers are correct. We goofed. The entry has been corrected, but was originally titled Matteuccia struthiopteris.

Hi,

I think Randal may have significantly underestimated the spore output of his plants. Most ferns produce 64 spores per sporangium, but ferns in the Osmundaceae produce more:
128 in Leptopteris and 256 or 512 in Todea and Osmunda / Osmundastrum.

Ciao
Brian

Gorgeous photos, both, and interesting discussion. I always learn from you, and always enjoy the beauty. Thanks!