Ferns make an appearance in our yard every winter. The seasonal rains stir them from dormancy to life. Tender leaves unfurl and capture the golden winter sun, providing beautiful pools of light under the trees. I bring a little of that light into the kitchen using my plant aquarium.
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| Polypodium californium |
These ferns are in the Polypodiacea (or Polypodies) family. The name is derived from poly (many) and podion (little foot). Polypodies are terrestrial or epiphytic, with a creeping, densely hairy or scaly rhizome that bears fronds at intervals along its length. The leaf form is pinnatifid, with spores forming on the underside of the leaf.
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| Polypodium under the oak tree |
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| Spores developing on the leaf underside |
The Polypodium californium can be found throughout our yard after the winter rains, especially under the juniper and oak trees. They do well in moist shade, as well as full winter sun, and go straight to work producing their spores. As the rains cease, the ferns dry up until the are completely dessicated. But the rhizomes are beneath the surface in the soil, ready to spring to life when the winter rains return.
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| Leaf and rhizome structure |
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