Notes on Robbin C. Moran's A Natural History of Ferns

Notes on Robbin C. Moran's A Natural History of Ferns
By J. Zimmerman

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Check out the current hottest books on trees and forests.

A Natural History of Ferns by Robbin C. Moran (foreword by Oliver Sacks). Terrific book: fun to read yet full of the art and craft of science. Filed under: family specific, ferns, natural history

The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter by Colin Tudge. Urban tree benefits: your bottom line.

Sections:

1. The Life Cycle of Ferns.
   1. In Search of the Fern Seed.
   2. Spore Shooting.
   3. Sporadic Results.
   4. The Asexual Revolution.
   5. Reproduction by Buds.
   6. Hybridization and Polyploidy.

2. Classification of Ferns.
   7. The Falsely Famed Fern Allies. "Nowadays [thanks to genetic information] neither whisk ferns nor horsetails should be called fern allies — they are ferns."
      [p. 62: All fern allies "are misnamed". This includes the horsetails (Equisetum).
      p. 63: Horsetails and ferns are "
      p. 69: "The true fern allies are the seed plants, with which ferns share a more recent common ancestor."]
   8. The Fern Fraternity.
   9. Genres of Genera.
   10. At the Movies.

3. Fern Fossils.
   11. Giants of the Carboniferous.
   12. A Horsetail's Tale?
   13. Hangers-on from the Mesozoic.
   14. The Fern Spike.
   15. How Old Are Ferns?

4. Adaptations by Ferns.
   16. The Potato Fern.
   17. How Ferns Became Trees.
   18. Iridescent Ferns and Their Shady Behavior.
   19. Leaf Scales and Water Uptake.
   20. Some Quirks of Quillworts.
   21. Bracken, the Poisoner.
   22. Spira Mirabilis.

5. Fern Geography.
   23. Robinson Crusoe's Ferns.
   24. Sino-American Relations.
   25. Ferns of the Lost World.
   26. Ferns, Flashlights, and Tertiary Forests.
   27. Tropical Diversity.

6. Ferns and People.
   28. Serpent's Tongue Tea.
   29. The Molesting Salvia.
   30. Little Nitrogen Factories.
   31. Nardoo.
   32. Pteridomania.
   33. The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

Also:

• Great glossary (9 pp.)
• References (11 pp.)
• Index (15 pp.)
• Color plates

Ferns of Big Basin State Park

Ferns seen in Big Basin S.P.:

On Berry Creek Falls loop	On OWCH loop	The Dreaded Latin and Greek	Appearance
bracken fern	bracken fern	Pteridium aquilinum	Large, coarse. Triply divided. Sori form a continuous band edging each pina.
chain fern, giant	chain fern, giant	Woodwardia fimbriata	Largest native fern. Doubly divided usually. Sori linear "chains".
coffee fern		Pellaea addromedifolia	Rounded pinnae. Doubly divided; brown fronds in late summer. Leaf edges curl into false indusia to protect sori.
deer fern	deer fern	Blechnum spicant	Corse; fronds narrow at base. Singly divided. Sori fill the narrow pinae of fertile fronds.
five-finger fern	five-finger fern	Adiantum pedaturm [PCFF]
goldback fern	goldback fern	Pentagramma triangularis
horsetail, common	horsetail, common	Equisetum arvense [to check if also have: Equisetum telmateia ssp braunii = giant horsetail.]
lace fern, California		Aspidotis californica [to check if also have: Aspidotis carlotta-halliae = Carlotta Hall's lace fern ]
lady fern, common		Athyrium filix-femina	Doubly or triply divided. Soft and delicate; dies back fall/winter. Crescent indusia.
maidenhair, California	maidenhair, California	Adiantum jordanii
Polypody, California	Polypody, California	Polypodium californicum [to check if also have: Polypodium calirhiza = nested polypody ]
shield fern		[To check if also have: Polystichum dudleyi = Dudley's shield fern ; or Polystichum munitum = western shield fern]	Doubly divided. "Hilt" at base of each pinna.
sword fern, California	sword fern, California	Polystichum californicum	Singly divided. "Hilt" at base of each pinna. Crescent indusia.
wood fern, coastal	wood fern, coastal	Dryopteris arguta	Doubly divided. Tougher and firmer than lady fern. Broad triangular outline. Round sori; horseshoe indusia.

An Illustrated Field Key to the Flowering Plants of Monterey County — and Ferns

An illustrated field key to the flowering plants of Monterey County — and ferns, fern allies, and conifers (1997) by Mary Ann Matthews includes ferns seen in Monterey County.

The convoluted title, however, draws attention to the author's no-longer-correct view of 'fern allies' and the correct story is in Robbin Craig Moran's A Natural History of Ferns. Horsetails, which should be considered ferns, found in Monterey are:

• Annual stems of two kinds (sterile and fertile):
  • Sterile stems <= 3mm thick. Fertile sheaths ~10 teeth. Equisetum arvense: common horsetail.
  • Sterile stems > 5mm thick. Fertile sheaths ~20-30 teeth. E. telmateia: giant horsetail.
• Stems persist two or more years: the scouring rushes, whose main shoots:
  • Die back to base in winter. E. laevigatum: Braun's scouring rush.
  • Remain green in lower part in winter. E. ferrissii: no common name given.
  • Remain green throughout in winter. E. hyemale: Western scouring rush.

Fern Family	Genus; selected species and common names
Horsetail Family [Remember that A Natural History of Ferns includes reference to DNA research that shows horsetails as ferns, rather than "fern allies".]	Equisetum: 5 species including common horsetail and giant horsetail
Deer Fern Family	Woodwardia: 1 species: Woodwardia fimbriata
Bracken Family	Pteridium: 1 species: Pteridium aquilinum
Wood Fern Family	1. Polystichum: 4 species including sword fern and shield fern. 2. Athyrium: 1 species: A. felix-femina, western lady fern. 3. Cystopteris: 1 species: C. fragilis, bladder fern. 4. Dryopteris: 1 species: D. arguta, wood fern.
Polypody Family	Polypodium: 3 species including California polypody and liquorice fern.
Brake Family	1. Pentagramma: 2 species including gold-back fern. 2. Andiantum: 3 species including California maidenhair fern and Venus-hair fern. 3. Aspidotis: 3 species including California lace-fern. 4. Cheilanthes: 4 species including lace fern. 5. Pellaea: 2 species including lace fern.

Book Choice.

Sierra Nevada Tree Identifier. My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir. Sierra Nevada: The Naturalist's Companion by Verna R. Johnson. Published University of California Press. The Ecology of Fire by Robert J. Whelan. Fire in Sierra Nevada Forests: A Photographic Interpretation of Ecological Change Since 1849 by George E. Gruell.

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  • Oak.
  • Pines: Introducing Pines, How to Names Pines.
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