Fern Finder Scavenger Hunt Pigeon Creek County Park Creek Loop Path

Ottawa County Parks

Version 1, July 2020 Fern Finder Scavenger Hunt Pigeon Creek County Park Creek Loop Trail

Ottawa County Parks Instructions • Print or use this guide on your phone as you walk the Creek Loop path at Pigeon Creek Park. • Use the next 2 pages to learn about ferns, their parts and the unique way they reproduce. • Find as many of these ferns as you can and check them off as you go. Late June – August is best. • You may find more ferns than are in this scavenger hunt. Take a picture and share with us on our Facebook page! www.facebook.com/OttawaCountyParks Fern Identification • Parts of a Fern

BLADE

COSTA FROND

Rachis Pinna Pinnule

STIPE

Image modified from USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Fern Life Cycle

Ferns reproduce through a combination of both asexual and sexual reproduction phases by a process called “Alternation of Generations”. Adult plants asexually produce spores that are released (like seeds) and grow into a gametophyte. The gametophyte is the sexual phase and it has both male and female reproductive parts. Fertilization requires the aid of water and the resulting embryo The life cycle of the fern. © Merriam-Webster Inc. grows into the new spore https://www.britannica.com/science/alternation-of-generations Accessesed July 22, 2020 producing plant. Ferns also spread through NOTE: Spores grow in sporangium which can be rhizomes spreading either located as dots on the underside of some of underneath the ground. a ferns’ pinnae or growing on an entirely separate “fertile” stalk. Bracken Fern Pteridium aquilinum

• Grows in dry, sandy upland forests and openings. • Has 3 blades that split from one point, creating a triangle. • Can grow sparsely or in dense thickets.

Ottawa County Prks Cinnamon Fern Osmundastrum cinnamomeum

• Commonly grows from a round cluster & can be up to 5’ tall! • Base of each pinna has cottony ball & base of stalk is fuzzy. • Grows separate fertile frond with cinnamon colored spores.

Ottawa County Prks Lady Fern Athyrium filix-femina

• One of the more common ferns in • Fronds are 3x’s divided, meaning each pinnule has fringing, giving the fern a “lacy” look, hence “lady fern”.

Ottawa County Prks Up Close Comparison LADY FERN CINNAMON FERN

• Cinnamon Fern is 2x’s Divided: Pinna from Stipe and Pinnule from Pinna. • Lady Fern is 3’x Divided: the “fringing” on each Pinnule is the 3rd division.

Ottawa County Prks Royal Fern Osmunda regalis

wildadirondacks.org

• Looks “shrub-like” due to the pinnules looking like leaflets. • Can grow very large at 5-6’ tall with fronds 2.5’ wide. • Name refers to the "crown" of fertile leaflets which appear at the top of the fertile fronds.

Ottawa County Prks Sensitive Fern Onoclea sensibilis

wildadirondacks.org

• Lacks frilly look of most ferns. • Noticeably wavy, broad, finger-like pinnae. • Fertile frond smaller but shape resembles sterile frond.

Ottawa County Prks Marsh Fern Thelypteris palustris

• Short, only growing 1-2.5 feet tall with fronds 4-7” across. • Looks like a miniature Cinnamon Fern, but doesn’t grow in round clusters, and it doesn’t have a separate fertile stalk.

Ottawa County Prks New York Fern Thelypteris noveboracensis

*Look along the Hemlock Path for this species • Often grows in large colonies carpeting the forest floor. • Only grow 1-2 feet tall & have a short stipe. • Blade widest in the middle, tapering at top & bottom.

Ottawa County Prks Resources

• GUIDE: Fern Finder (2001) • BOOK: Michigan Ferns and Lycophytes (2018) • WEBSITE: Michigan Flora • WEBSITE: Ferns of the Adirondacks • WEBSITE: USFS FERNS • WEBSITE: Miriam Webster • WEBSITE: Life Cycle of a Fern