What Is the Difference Between Male & Female Ferns?

Mature fern plants are not male or female.

That Boston fern in the greenhouse is a member of a plant family that existed before the dinosaurs. Ferns are older than seed-bearing or fruit-bearing plants, and there are no male or female ferns.

Physiology

Spores usually form in midsummer.

There is no difference between mature male and female fern plants. Each plant creates spores, concentrated in circular groups on the lower side of the fern fronds. The single-celled spores contain half of the fern's chromosomes, or genetic material.

Prothallium

The spore, once it settles in a moist and protected area, grows into a prothallium only a few millimeters wide. Unlike mosses, fern prothallia consist of both male and female reproductive parts. The female, egg-producing archegonia grow near a notch in the flattened prothallium. The male, sperm-producing antheridia form at the edge.

Fertilization

Embryonic fern plants grow into tightly coiled fiddleheads.

Because the ovum and sperm develop at different times, the sperm must travel through water to a nearby prothallium with a mature ovum. Once the sperm fertilizes the ovum, the fertilized embryo, now with a full set of chromosomes, develops into a new fern.

References

• Glendale Community College: Seedless Vascular Plants: Ferns
• Texas State University Department of Biology: Ferns: Life Cycle
• The Smithsonian Institution: Fern Fact Sheet

Resources

• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Ferns