Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
"FERNS" is a plural of: fern. |
Date "FERNS" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1818. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Dream Interpretation | To see ferns in dreams, foretells that pleasant hours will break up gloomy forebodings. To see them withered, indicates that much and varied illness in your family connections will cause you grave unrest. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Pterophyta, the Ferns Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pterophyta Classes
- Marattiopsida
- Osmundopsida
- Gleicheniopsida
- Pteridopsida
Fern, or pteridophyte, is any one of a group of some twenty thousand species of plants classified in the Division Pterophyta or Filicophyta. A fern is defined as a vascular plant that reproduces by shedding spores to initiate an alternation of generations. New fronds arise by circinate vernation (unrolling leaf formation).
A group of plants that may be termed ophioglossoids was once considered to be true ferns, but is now regarded as an isolated group. These include plants traditionally grouped in the Family Ophioglossaceae, including adders-tongues and grape-ferns. These are now considered to be "fern-allies."
Fern life cycle
The life cycle of a typical fern consists of two distinct stages (see alternation of generations) and proceeds as follows:
- Sporophyte produces spores
- Spores develops into a prothallus (gametophyte)
- Prothallus produces gametes
- Male gamete fertilizes female gamete
- The fertilized gamete (embryo) grows into a sporophyte (the "fern")
Fern structure
A sporophytic fern consists of:
A gametophytic fern contains:
- Rhizome: Creeping stem, sometimes underground, absorbs nutrients, anchors plant
- Frond ("fern leaf"): green, photosynthesizes
- Spores develop on surface (usually underside)
- Petiole: stem-like part of leaf
- When young, it is curled into a fiddlehead
- Thallus: green, photosynthesizes
- contains gametes
- Rhizoids: root-like stems
Classification
Ferns have traditionally been grouped in the class Filices, but some modern classifications assign them their own division in the plant kingdom, which may be known as Pterophyta or Filicophyta. This may be subdivided into four main groups, or classes (or orders if the ferns are considered as a class):
The last group includes most plants familiarly known as ferns.
- Marattiopsida
- Osmundopsida
- Gleicheniopsida
- Pteridopsida (or Filicopsida)
A more complete classification scheme follows:
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Division: Pterophyta
- Class: Marattiopsida
- Order: Marattiales
- Order: Christenseniales
- Class: Osmundopsida
- Order: Osmundales (the flowering ferns)
- Class: Gleicheniopsida
- Subclass: Gleicheniatae
- Order: Gleicheniales (the forked ferns)
- Order: Dipteridales
- Order: Matoniales
- Subclass: Hymenophyllatae
- Order: Hymenophyllales (the filmy ferns)
- Subclass: Hymenophyllopsitae
- Order: Hymenophyllopsidales
- Class: Pteridopsida
- Subclass: Cyatheatae
- Order: Cyatheales (the tree ferns)
- Order: Plagiogyriales
- Order: Loxomales
- Subclass: Schizaeatae
- Order: Schizeales (including the climbing ferns)
- Order: Marsileales (the water-clovers, mosquito fern, water-spangle)
- Subclass: Pteriditae
- Order: Lindseales
- Order: Pteridales (including the brakes and maidenhairs)
- Order: Dennstaedtiales (the cup ferns)
- Order: Hypolepidales (including bracken)
- Subclass: Polypoditae
- Order: Aspleniales (the spleenworts)
- Order: Athyriales (including the lady ferns, ostrich fern, maiden ferns, etc.)
- Order: Dryopteridales (the wood ferns and sword ferns)
- Order: Davalliales (including the rabbits-foot ferns and Boston ferns)
- Order: Polypodiales (including the rock-cap ferns or Polypodies)
Economic Uses
Ferns are not as economically important as, say, cereal grains, with one possible exception. Ferns of the genus Azolla, which are very small, floating plants which do not look like ferns, and are called mosquito fern, are used as a biological fertilizer in the rice paddies of southeast Asia.
Other ferns with economic significance include:
In addition, a great many ferns are grown horticulturally.
- Dryopteris filix-mas -- male fern, used as a vermifuge
- Rumohra adiantoides -- floral fern, extensively used in the florist trade
- Osmunda regalis and Osmunda cinnamomea -- royal fern and cinnamon fern, respectively, the root fiber being used horticulturally; the fiddleheads of O. cinnamomea are also used as a cooked green
- Matteuccia struthiopteris -- ostrich fern, the fiddleheads used as a cooked green in North America
- Pteridium aquilinum -- bracken, the fiddleheads used as a cooked green in Japan
- Diplazium esculentum -- vegetable fern, a source of food for some native societies
- tree ferns, used as building material in some tropical locales
External Link
- Filicopsida at Tree of Life web project
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Fern."
Crosswords: FERNS |
| Specialty definitions using "FERNS": Canal, CHRISTMAS-TREE FARM WORKER ♦ Iterated Function System. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "FERNS": indusium. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | If we wanna make ferns invisible or communicate with shrimp, I've got the goods right here (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Graceful ferns adorn coastal forested regions in Oregon. Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. Bracket ferns line the West Perimeter Road. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR). |
 | Ferns. Polypodiaceae family. Credit: T. Hogervorst. |  | Person looking into a lava tube opening with ferns growing inside at Clarks Butte Wilderness Study Area. OR 3-120. Credit: Conrad. |
 | Fairies, ferns, and birds. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Ferns in Deer Park, Maryland. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Upper Saranac Lake, birches & ferns near Saranac Inn, Adirondacks, N.Y. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Skunk cabbage, ferns and alders keep this farmer in the hills hard at work as he attempts to clear an abandoned homestead. Oregon. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | A farm that has been cut over and allowed to become covered with ferns near Mapleton, Oregon. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Ferns growing in a wall, New Orleans or Charleston, South Carolina. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Ferns" by Emma Payne Commentary: "Ferns." | "In the Bush 2" by Chris Turner Commentary: "Photo of the ferns on the bank." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| "FERNS" is generally used as a noun (plural) -- approximately 88.94% of the time. "FERNS" is used about 199 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (plural) | 88.94% | 177 | 23,322 |
| Noun (proper) | 9.55% | 19 | 80,337 |
| Lexical Verb (-s form) | 1.51% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 199 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "FERNS" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Ferns | Last name | 170 | 43,830 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "FERNS": Fiddlehead ferns ♦ ice ferns. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "FERNS": and-ferns, seed-ferns, tree-ferns. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "FERNS"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Manx | faarney (drip, dripping, drop, get in, leak, leakage). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ernsfay.(various references) | |
Scottish | easradh (ferns collected to litter cattle). (various references) | |
Swedish | isblommor (frostwork, ice ferns). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"FERNS" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ernes, erns, Farnes, farnesol, farns, Farnsby, feans, fearn, Fearns, feens, Fehrs, fenr, Fenra, fenrus, fensy, feran, Ferds, feres, Fergs, ferne, ferno, feron, ferras, Fers, fersc, Ferus, firns, Frena, frends, Frenesi, Freni, Frenni, fresne, Furnes. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "FERNS" (pronounced fer"nz) |
| 3 | -er" n z | adjourns, Burns, churns, concerns, earns, kernes, Kerns, learns, Querns, returns, Sauternes, spurns, sterns, Ternes, terns, turns, yearns. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-f-n-r-s" | |
-1 letter: erns, fens, fern, refs, serf. | |
-2 letters: efs, ens, ern, ers, fen, fer, ref, res, sen, ser. | |
-3 letters: ef, en, er, es, ne, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-f-n-r-s" | |
+1 letter: enserf, infers. | |
+2 letters: confers, enserfs, fanners, farness, fawners, fencers, fenders, finders, fingers, flenser, frenums, freshen, fresnel, friends, fringes, frontes, funkers, furanes, infares, infuser, knifers, niffers, redfins, refinds, refines, refunds, sniffer, snifter, snuffer, unfrees. | |
+3 letters: bonfires, coinfers, conifers, definers, enfevers, enforces, enframes, engrafts, enserfed, ensiform, fainters, fairness, fanciers, fanfares, farinose, farnesol, fastener, feigners, fenestra, fenurons, ferments, fermions, ferniest, fernless, fineries, finisher, firepans, firmness, flaneurs, flangers, flankers, flensers, flinders, flingers, flunkers, fondlers, foramens, forensic, foreruns, foreseen, foreskin, forfends, fornices, forsaken, forspent, fortunes, founders, fraenums, frankers, frankest, freeness, frenches, frenzies, freshens, freshing, freshman, freshmen, fresnels, frondose, frounces, frowners, funerals, furanose, furnaces, gunfires, hornfels, infernos, infester, infusers, misinfer, panfries, profanes, raftsmen, refasten, refences, refiners, refinish, refounds, refrains, refronts, refusing, refusnik, reinfuse, resinify, rifeness, sanserif, seafront, sneerful, sniffers, sniffier, sniffler, snifters, snuffers, snuffier, snuffler, softener, superfan, transfer, unifiers. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Names: Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.