Giant Western Chain Fern

Scientific Name: 

Woodwardia fimbriata

Physical Appearance: 

• Super long, broad fronds up to 8 feet in length!

• Sori (plural for sorus) are arranged in lines 

  • PAUSE FOR VOCAB 

  • A sorus is a cluster of sporangia

  • EVEN MORE VOCAB

  • Sporangia is a structure that produces and holds spores

  • AKA:

  • You can see the spores, which are created by multiple clusters of sporangia, in neat lines! This is important to understand because spores as essential to a fern’s reproduction process. The name of the GWCF was also given by this feature as the rows of sori resemble chains. This feature allows them to be easily identified!

When Does It Grow: 

• Perennial 

Preferred Environment: 

• Mild to wet, coastal forests

• Wetland areas 

• Fog and moist environments such as wetlands 

• Let’s just say these guys LOVE water and will not be found away from it

Method of Reproduction: 

• Produce spores on the back side of fronds for protection of the spores because it already has a hard time reproducing 

• WARNING FANCY LINGO: 

  • A spore is unicellular and for reproduction they are dispersed and germinated through mitotic division (different than seeds)

  • AKA… have you ever watched a movie that has dinosaurs in it? Well, most of the time the vegetation consists of several ferns! This is because ferns have been around longer than several other plants and what makes them super special is their reproduction methods. Spores are similar to seeds but further back of the evolutionary track… by evolve something that is still working? 

• Spores are spread through wind dispersal 

Random: 

• Natives of California would use the fonds for basket weaving and the lining of earth ovens