CHAPTER V. 

 FERNS (FILICALES) 



Habitat. Ferns, a higher form of plant life than the 

 mosses, are found growing in moist and dry soil, on rocks 

 and tree trunks. 



Morphology of the Sporophyte. The sporophyte is the 

 permanent plant of the fern. It consists of a rhizome or stem 

 which is perennial; that is, it lives from year to year. It 

 may grow upon or under the ground and it may be simple or 

 branched. The rhizome is made up of nodes and internodes. 

 From the nodes grow branches and leaves; the internodes are 

 the spaces between the nodes. Growing from the under 

 surface and sides of the rhizome are numerous true roots, 

 which occur for the first time in the ferns. These fix the 

 plant and absorb nourishment from the soil. 



Fronds or Leaves. From the rhizome leaves develop which 

 become larger as the stem grows older. The leaves are the 

 most striking and beautiful part of the fern plant. The 

 leaves are coiled when young but as they grow older they 

 uncoil and finally become flat. They vary from entire to 

 three times compound. There are two kinds of fern leaves, 

 (1) foliage leaves and (2) spore-bearing leaves. 



1 . Foliage Leaves are similar in structure and function to the 

 leaves of the higher plants. In the center of each leaf and 

 each division of the leaf there is a strand of vessels or con- 

 ducting tissue. This type of tissue occurs for the first time 

 in the ferns. Frequently the leaf blade is separated into a 



