Not that easy - in order to be able to identify a fern correctly, specialist knowledge is usually required. There are more than 12,000 species worldwide. It is not easy to maintain an overview and to avoid confusion. Here are the most important types of ferns in this country with their unmistakable characteristics!

Ferns can be identified by their frond shape

The main identifying characteristics of ferns

Because ferns don't produce flowers, fruit, or even seeds, there aren't many aspects that can be compared among ferns to distinguish them from one another. The main defining characteristics are:

  • Outline of the frond
  • feathering
  • spore shape
  • spore arrangement

Featherless fern species

One fern species is very different from all others. This is the deer tongue or the deer tongue fern. Its fronds are tongue-shaped and unfeathered. It can grow both in the garden and in a pot indoors.

Simply pinnate fern species

The following types of ferns exhibit simply pinnate fronds:

  • Rib Fern: Spores are on smaller fronds
  • Lance Shield Fern: thorny tips, shield-shaped spore capsules
  • Brown-stalked spleenwort: red to black-brown petiole, linear spore capsules
  • Green-stemmed spleenwort: green petiole, linear spore capsules
  • Polypody: green petiole, pitted spore capsules

Doubly pinnate fern species

There are also types of ferns that have doubly pinnate fronds. This includes the following specimens:

  • Male Male Fern: broad leaves, kidney-shaped spore capsules
  • Crested Male Fern: narrow leaves, kidney-shaped spore capsules
  • Mountain fern: narrow leaf base, spore capsules on the leaf margin
  • Swamp fern: leaves small and soft, spore capsules on the leaf margin
  • Lobed Shield Fern: thorny tips, coarse leaves, shield-shaped spore capsules
  • Ostrich Fern: ostrich feather-like leaves, spore capsules on smaller fronds

Triple pinnate fern species

Last but not least, there are the types of ferns with triple or multi-pinnate fronds. A representative of this is the maidenhair fern, whose spore capsules are linear. The alpine fern with its round spore capsules, the small bladder fern that grows on rocks, the thorn fern with its thorny tips and kidney-shaped spore capsules, the large-leaved bracken and the triangular-leaved mountain bladder fern also belong to this group.

tips and tricks

There are websites on the Internet that provide software for identifying ferns. Identification books for ferns are also commercially available.

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Vegetable garden