Allowing the fruit to ripen, harvesting and sowing the seeds - this is how most plants work when it comes to reproduction or propagation. But with ferns it's completely different…
Ferns use spores to reproduce
Spores are used for reproduction
Unlike flowering plants, ferns do not reproduce by seeds but by spores. Ferns do not form flowers, fruits or seeds. They create spores that are used for reproduction.
characteristics of the spores
Fern spores are located on the underside of the fronds. Capsules appear there, standing together in small piles. The capsules usually mature over the summer. They are greenish to brownish in color and usually plump.
When the capsules are ripe, they dry and the spores they contain are released. Male fern, for example, can contain up to 500 spores in a single capsule! The spores are distributed in the world with the wind.
Spores become seedlings and eventually plants
This is how reproduction works via the spores in ferns:
- Spores are blown to the ground
- they germinate in shady and moist locations
- after approx. 3 months a pregerm develops
- Male and female reproductive organs develop on the underside of the progenitor
- male cells swim to the female egg cells
- after fertilization a single plantlet is formed
- Duration: around 1 year
Some ferns also multiply via foothills
But the reproduction of ferns does not end with the spores. Some types of ferns, such as the spotted fern or the bracken fern, also reproduce with the help of their foothills. These can be several meters long. They tolerate being cut through without any problems.
tips and tricks
If you want to remove a fern, you should do that before the spores form. Once the spores have formed and the fronds are torn off, they can be easily distributed. Next year there will be new ferns…