When fertile, the underside of Western sword fern fronds display colorful sori – reproductive structures that release wind-borne spore when mature.
Dr. Fern giving these sword ferns a summertime health check up.
Las Positas Community College students get their fern on and collect Fern Watch data.
Frond height measurements by students at Redwood Regional Park.
Fern Watch is powered by amazing volunteers like Eric Havel, Mary-Ellen Hannibal, Deborah Zierten, and Cat Morris (left to right).
Oakland Tech high school students collect Fern Watch data at Redwood Regional Park.
Architectural beauty of fronds make me smile from any perspective.
Dr. Fern and Marie Antoine finding fern paradise.
Dr. Fern encourages this crunchy sword fern to hang in there a little longer.
Dry sword fern, June 2014.
A brightly-colored new sword fern frond has been munched by a hungry sawfly larva.
Aphid, sooty mold, and lichen covered weather station at Samuel P. Taylor State Park.
A fuzzy sword fern fiddlehead declares spring has sprung at the Grove of Old Trees in Sonoma County.
Sword fern loves having wet leaves and soaks this water up.
Betsy Franson records Fern Watch data at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
A fiddlehead emerges after fire
A sword fern returns to normal with a new flush of fronds after the fire.
With help of volunteers, we track how climate shapes Western sword fern every year in these 11 forests.
