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Seattle.
Back in late March I posted a comment describing the ferns that grow in the nearby forest. At that time most of the ferns were either still dormant or were just sending up their first fronds. The one exception, Licorice Fern (Polypoduim vulgare) was still going strong.
This is what Licorice Fern looked like in late March:
March 29, 2011. Spent spore clusters (sori) on Licorice Fern fronds.
Flash forward three months. Here's what they look like now:
June 13, 2011. Fallen Licorice Fern frond.
A very few fading hangers-on remain, but for the most part Licorice Ferns have gone into summer dormancy. Photos from previous years (see below) suggest that new fronds begin to develop in late July, but on one nurse log last week a couple of them were curling up from the moss.
July 24, 2007. New Licorice Fern fronds.
I don't know if these new fronds are really early or if I just missed seeing them this time of year in the past. At least this year I can report seeing new Licorice Fern fronds on June 24.
The other five common summer ferns have all pretty much finished their vegetative growth. Four of them have begun to develop spores, the first step in their reproductive cycle.
Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum) is the most common fern in the forest. In some areas this year's fronds stand shoulder high or more. Their spores are held in donut shaped sori that develop in elegant parallel lines up and down the underside of their leaves.
June 24, 2011. Sword Fern sori.
June 24, 2011. Sword Fern sori. Detail of immature spores.
The incipient spores in this image appear as granulated green bits around the edges of the donut.
The sori of Lady Fern (Athyrium felix-femina) look like little worms nestled in the frond leaflets.
June 24, 2011. Lady Fern sori.
June 24, 2011. Lady Fern sori. Detail of immature spores.
As with those of the Sword Fern, their spores are still green.
Wood Fern (Dryopteris austriaca) begins to send up new vegetative growth perhaps a week later than the rest of the ferns. One would think that it would follow suit in spore development, but this year its spores appear to be the first to ripen.
June 24, 2011. Wood Fern sori.
June 24, 2011. Wood Fern sori. Detail, immature and ripening spores.
I've not paid a huge amount of attention to the chronology of spore development in the forest's various ferns, so can't speak to whether this is a normal state of affairs. Again, at least this year there is a record.
The ferns I've talked about so far all produce spores in external sori on their vegetative leaves. Not so the Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant). Deer Fern produces separate spore producing fronds after the vegetative fronds have matured. Their spores develop inside of little slits along the underside of these fertile leaflets. The photo below was taken in late May, 2009. This year's fertile fronds were at a similar stage of development at that time this year.
May 30, 2009. Deer Fern fertile frond.
Last is the Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum). I had to do some research on the way their spores develop because I've never seen sori on the forest's Bracken Fern. If sori were present they'd appear as narrow grungy ribbons arrayed along the edges of the fern leaflets. But no. Not here. Trust me, I've looked. Now, it may be that Bracken sori develop later in the summer when I've lost interest in looking for fern sori. It may be that they don't need to reproduce via spores here - bracken also send out hearty underground rhizomes from which new fiddleheads sprout each year.
Or it may be that I will find Bracken sori in the near future. As noted back in March, Bracken Fern fiddleheads have become a prime target for urban foragers.
Foraging has become a problem for a number of plants in the forest, but bracken fern has taken a serious hit. In past summers one could find stands of mature bracken rising to shoulder height in some of the natural sunny clearings. The last such stand was harvested at the fiddlehead stage last spring. Surviving bracken stands are much smaller in height and also in the amount of ground they cover. I expect to see this stand suffering in the same way if it is not allowed to mature this year.
The stand mentioned was harvested again this spring. For a second year there were very few vegetative fronds available to collect the energy that would have been stored in the community's rhizomes and used for next year's fiddleheads. If this continues, at some point the forest's bracken will be forced to turn to Plan B to survive. That's when I expect to find Bracken sori.
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I've gone on long enough. Your turn. What's happening where you are, and where are you?