Interesting Facts About the Western Sword Fern
The fern is an ancient plant that is a remnant from early vascular plants. There are over 10,000 species of ferns today. One of these is the western sword fern, a popular and well-known species that dots western North America.
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Ferns
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The western sword fern---also known by its scientific name Polystichum munitum---is a type of evergreen fern. All ferns are vascular plants, meaning that they have circulatory tissue to transport water and nutrients, but unlike many modern plants they are seedless. Fern spores germinate into a small photosynthetic structure called a prothallus that produces gametes (sex cells), which fertilize and develop into a new fern.
Habitat
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The sword fern is native to the western region of North America that extends from Alaska to California, where it is one of the most abundant ferns at lower elevations. It's a versatile plant that can grow well in shady beds, as large-scale ground cover, in mixed woodlands and along walls.
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Understory
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The sword fern is an understory plant in coniferous and mixed forests, meaning that it lives beneath the canopy near the ground. It is found with a number of other plants and trees, including the vine maple, wood sorrel, red huckleberry, cascade and Oregon grape.
Leaves
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The dark green fronds of the fern will usually grow two to three feet tall and form in tight radial clumps that are four to six feet wide. They appear in early spring and slowly unroll. Each frond is composed of many serrated, alternating leaflets called pinnae, which have brown spore cases known as sori on the undersides.
Survival
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Western sword ferns work well with soil full of organic material and regular water, although they can eventually become resistant to droughts. They are also resistant to deer and are adaptable enough to thrive under a number of different conditions.
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References
- Photo Credit fern image by Alistair Dick from Fotolia.com
