The maidenhair fern, as with quite a few other ferns, has been around since before the dinosaurs, but you can still grow it at home.
Being a forest floor species they can handle the shade found indoors. They are moisture loving and do very well when kept very wet.
Below is one growing on a windowsill at home.
Wild Maidenhair ferns carpeting the ground on the forest floor are an impressive site. These I photographed in ancient coastal indigenous forest in South Africa.
Ferns of other species carpeting the ground in other areas of the same Pirie forest.
Ferns are primitive plants and are living fossils. They predate flowering plants, and cone bearing plants. They propagate my means of spores like the fungi and mushrooms that are even more primitive.
To add to what you have said, So many of us have the wrong impression of ferns, including me - I thought that giant Staghorns weren't really ferns but some sort of epiphyte more closely related to bromeliads or tillandsia.
Any plant that starts from spores is classified as a fern.That includes the unfern-like Staghorns, skinny Horsetail and many other seemingly alien plants.Very informative article @gavvet. I surely learnt a lot.
We got these in Borneo. I'm not sure its the same species, the leafs do look similar though.
Thank you very much for sharing this information
I wish you a great year 2018excellent post dear friend @gavvet, thank you very much for sharing this wonderful material. I found it incredible that they were so old, in my children I lived in a neighborhood where there was no drinking water, we accessed the water in a reservoir that we had in our land, inside the aljieve this brick footwear, it was amazing that the elechos grew In the aljive as its natural habitat, I also had the luck to know the wild ferns, at that time there were many fields where there were not many people hanging around the place and it was feasible that these elechas would grow there.
Very interesting, but I have to be honest, I knew that the fern is a very old plant, in the mountains where I live, in the pre Italian Alps, the forests are covered with ferns, this plant is really beautiful. Listen @gavvet, I found a very interesting fossil but I'm not sure if that's what I think, given your knowledge, I'd like to show you some pictures of it, maybe on discord, to get your opinion, I do not want to expose it to the public before knowing its real identity, so I prefer to have your opinion in private. I would be very grateful, thank you!
Wow I have these plants in my garden! But actually i didn't know it comes from Jurassic age! :O This is amazing! I will give little more concern on those plants!@ Excellent post and thanks for sharing!@gavvet,
Cheers~
Interesting piece of history. Never thought much of ferns. I will look at ferns in a very different light. Thanks for the pictures and history.
Awesome post man!
Interesting this plant, thanks for sharing
Wow! Marvellous photography and great post.
I love nature too and the 1st picture is so beautiful. Ferns are primitive plants and living fossils pictures are superb. yes! they predate flowering plants, and cone bearing plants.
Thanks @gavvet for sharing this post.😊💚
Have a wonderful day!!
I just know fern plants are older than dinosaurs.
the evidence is clear on the fossil.
very good as home decoration plants, we feel like living in the world of dinosaurs. :D
I have a Dragon's blood plant
Happy New Year @gavvet and family
Amazing looking fossils, great find!
I agree with you
nice follow you thanks..
I hope you enjoyed the end of the year
It is also a happy year for you and for all the family
We hope to get some support from you brother at the beginning of the yearHi brother @gavvet
Northern maidenhair’s delicate, 8-20 in. fronds, with dark, shiny stems, spread their pinnae horizontally in a nearly perfect circle. This graceful, fan-like pattern is unique among native ferns. The fronds arise from a creeping rootstock in clusters. Burgundy red fiddleheads appear in early spring. The roots are wiry and black, colonizing in favorable sites.
This fern is quite easy to grow if it is provided with the right conditions. Western plants are sometimes treated as a separate variety or subspecies, A. pedatum var. or ssp. aleuticum, but eastern and western plants look very much alike.
Native Americans and others used this handsome foliage plant to treat a wide variety of ills, but maidenhair fern intrigues gardeners primarily because of its unusual architecture, which is stunning in a woodland garden setting.
The genus Adiantum comprises more than 200 species of deciduous, semievergreen, or evergreen ferns native to tropical America, to north temperate areas in both hemispheres, and to Australia. Maidenhair fern (A. pedatum) grows in rich, moist woods in Japan, the Pacific Northwest, and much of eastern North America.
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Maidenhair ferns grow in a way that is utterly different from that of any other herb you may have in your garden. Each spring, clusters of tightly coiled maidenhair fiddleheads (also called crosiers) arise from creeping underground stems (rhizomes) growing just below the soil surface. Gradually, the glossy black stems (stipes) uncoil to reveal wiry, spreading branches (rachises) that bear five to seven groups of leaf segments. These segments (pinnae) are in turn divided into alternate, heavily veined pinnules. The pinnae are held nearly parallel to the ground in an open ring.
The generic name, Adiantum, Greek for “unwetted,” refers to the fronds’ water repellency. The specific name, pedatum, is Latin for “like a (bird’s) foot” and refers to the splayed pinnae. The common name, maidenhair fern, appears to be an inexact translation of capillus-veneris, (literally, “Venus’s hair”), the epithet of a different species found in subtropical regions of both the Old and New
@gavvet, Absolutely brilliant topic also good educative post. Thanks for thinking my mind change different title. I have heard before ferns.But after read your post before 2 hours now, I followed some books to read. Ferns have been in existence for over 300 million years. Many ferns are easily recognizable because of their fronds, or lace-like leaves. However there are many different species of ferns growing around the world, in a variety of habitats and fronds can range in size from less than an inch to well over 12 feet. Many of these early groups of ferns went extinct in the Paleozoic but were eventually replaced by new forms, many of which have survived to the present day. Thanks again to your great gardening post. I wish you Happy and prosperous new year.
Nice post
There is so many history close to our homes, in many cases we even dont know about. That makes this post Interesting, and makes us aware that history is close to us.
Such a lovely post @gavvet.I live in Africa, and I've been privileged to know ferns so well. You know, a school if thought has it that grasses did not exist during the time of dinosaurs, and that one of the food dinosaurs ate were ferns, showing you how long they have been around.
Thanks for sharing this lovely information.
Thank you @gavvet for such a well structured post, really linking Ferns and dinosaurs. Ferns are some of the oldest plants on the planet, dating to the Mesozoic era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. They were here millions of years before flowering plants.
That is a testimony to how sturdy ferns really are. And unlike the rest of us, some plant biologists believes that ferns are some of the easiest plants to grow.
You can surely guess them a try.
Nice post friend in our cuntry its called kesadeeni
Much thanks for sharing this data
I wish you an extraordinary year 2018amazing post dear companion @gavvet, much thanks for sharing this magnificent material. I thought that it was fantastic that they were so old, in my youngsters I lived in an area where there was no drinking water, we got to the water in a repository that we had in our territory, inside the aljieve this block footwear, it was astonishing that the elechos developed In the aljive as its common natural surroundings, I additionally had the fortunes to know the wild greeneries, around then there were many fields where there were very few individuals sticking around the place and it was plausible that these elechas would develop there.
Really didn't know this much about fossil. Plus one to my knowledge. Thanks.
Happy New Year to you sir @gavvet, hope you welcomed the new year well. All the best wishes this year.
you a great point of view when you said that there is more in our time maybe maybe its still grose in our gardin from the first life in earth @gavvet
Plantas decorativas adornan muchos hogares y la mayoría no conoce su historia. Gracias por la investigación.
Wow! How interesting! Thanks for sharing. Followed and upvoted you ✌️😚
Thank you enormously much for sharing this information
I perspective you a great year 2018aweosome post dear friend @gavvet, thank you every one of much for sharing this fabulous material. I found it incredible that they were in view of that antique, in my children I lived in a neighborhood where there was no drinking water, we accessed the water in a reservoir that we had in our house, inside the aljieve this brick footwear, it was incredible that the elechos grew In the aljive as its natural dwelling, I in addition to had the luck to know the wild ferns, at that era there were many fields where there were not many people hanging as regards the place and it was possible that these elechas would mount happening there.
very good post
how much sunshine do they need?
Make a fossil with some cement by pushing the leave imprint into it.
I love gardening its my hobby , its healthy hobby i guess
Interesting plant with an even more interesting name. Maidens had bushy hair in past I guess ;)
So very beautiful your every photography. Ilike it tree garden ,flowers garden so beautiful 👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌
Postingan yang menarik.dan sangat bermanfaat bagi kami.terimakasih
Haha,, pu peugah bg,, hn meuphom bhs indo jih,.
wow. beautiful photo and very nice post
Good post @gavvet. Interesting thing is that it has more than250 species.
if we are good at caring for him, inside the flowerpot can ... the essential treatment ...😎😎😎
Seeing a beautiful plant that can last very long, makes one wonder about it's creator. Don't tell me you spent the holidays in a forest ;)
Waoh! You grew these??? Awesome!!
Gardening is one of my hobbies. l love decorative plants
that fossils so amazing. great post
very good post
I wonder at which point ferns and fungi separated from on another. The Spore element is intriguing.
very inportent & deeply thinking great post.....
Wow nice post
Hi @gavvet, Are you the Steemian with highest reputation score?
The post is very interesting and informative.
Thanks for sharing. I hope my audience likes it.
Steem On!
nope, there are higher
Tough plant. Will be still there when we are gone. :-)
Cycads were around when dinosaurs roamed the earth and were most probably eaten by them.
Nice interesting post
Speaking of primitive, I had a fungus growing in my lawn that looked very menacing. It is important to remember that these things were not made for us to digest. I know I sound ridiculous by saying that, but seriously--strange stuff.
Excellent post....I didn't know ferns were that old. That one looks so great on your window :)