FURRY FERN BABES

Words by Jessica Peace

Is there anything cuter to a plant head than those tightly bound, furry spirals? Uhh! Snip off the rusty old fronds and have a gander at something that’s been doing it’s thing since the T-Rex.

JURASSIC MAGIC

But what makes that frond so special? Well unlike most leaves, the fern frond is an independant baby maker - it don’t need no tinder date to make new life. The frond - known in the plant world as a ‘megaphyll’, unfurls and chucks out its wild oats - or ‘prothallus’. The prothallus literally resembles a tiny heart and has the sperm and the egg already wrapped inside, it waits for a little rain and the magic happens, tah-dah! A little fern appears.

You’re welcome.