FTC | B2453 |
Descriptor | FERN |
Synonym(s) | fiddlehead |
Scope note | |
Description | A fern is a member of a group of vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having certain tissue that conducts water and nutrients, and having branched stems. Ferns are defined here in the broad sense, being all of the Polypodiopsida, comprising both the leptosporangiate (Polypodiidae) and eusporangiate ferns, the latter itself comprising "ferns" other than those denominated "true ferns": horsetails (including scouring rushes), whisk ferns, marattioid ferns, and ophioglossoid ferns.
Ferns are not as important economically as seed plants but have considerable importance in some societies. Some ferns are used for food, including the fiddleheads of Pteridium aquilinum (bracken), Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern), and Osmundastrum cinnamomeum (cinnamon fern). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern]
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