Beside one of my trails, Fragile Fern fronds reach up through the dead oak leaves as if waved into existence by a magic wand.
Fragile Ferns are one of the most abundant ferns in Iowa, especially in oak-hickory woodlands. If conditions are right, they slowly spread.
Eye to eye with Fragile Fern
I lay down on the ground on my stomach to watch the ferns up close. I noticed that the ferns were growing up out of moss. In the loose matrix of the moss, the ferns must be able to stretch out easily. By way of a returning the favor, the ferns cast a mottled shade, which makes the mosses happy.
Fragile Ferns got their name because the main stem breaks easily. I saw stumps of stems where perhaps a mouse walked through the fern patch and broke them.
Fragile Ferns are toughies
The stem may be delicate, but the species is no wimp. It’s abundant and one of the easiest ferns to find in spring. It appears suddenly, almost the day the snow is gone. It stays green for a long time, growing new fronds even in summer and fall.
Fragile Fern flourishes despite Iowa’s overabundance of rabbits and deer. Something about the plants is not so tasty, and mammals almost never eat them.
Nursery to small lives
However, birds forage among the fronds for insects and seeds. Frogs live there, too, though I’ve never seen one. Maybe that’s because the ferns hide them well.
I found several walnuts lodged among the ferns, where they may escape the notice of hungry squirrels long enough to sprout.
Fragile Ferns are part of a tiny, ground-level ecosystem that allows a multitude of beings to live and thrive.
Picturing you flat on your tummy in the deep forest glade...spying fragile ferns and other wonders.... tickles me.... bringing sweet memories of my childhood wanderings in shady Redwood groves....spying Salamanders and Newts and Banana Slugs....and such like.
Ah... those were The Days ~ crystal clear, seven decades later..............
Lovely post! Lora Conrad wrote a nice piece for my website on fragile fern:
https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2022/07/13/iowa-wildflower-wednesday-fragile-fern/