When you enter the world of botany little by little you realize that it is very, very broad. There are many terms that are used, but undoubtedly one of the easiest to learn and remember, especially if you like ferns, is the fronds.
Why? Well, because they are the only large leaves that they have, and they are really precious even though they are dyed in some shade of a color very common in nature: green.
What is the meaning of fronde?
As we advanced, fronde or frond It is the leaf of the true ferns or sporophytes. Its appearance is usually feathery, since it is divided into multiple sessile leaflets (that is, into tiny leaflets that sit directly on the same stem from which they sprout) on the underside of which they present sori, which contain the spore or sporangia producers.
What types are there?
All species of ferns have fronds, but of these there are several types depending on how the blade is divided:
- Whole: is the case of Asplenium nidus for example.
- Segmented: as in the Polypodium vulgare.
- Divided: As the Pteridium aquiline.
- With double division: As the Lastrea fern-female.
And according to the outline of said limbus:
- Linear: As the Asplenium septentrionale.
- Lanceolate: As the Oreopteris limbosperma.
- Oval-lanceolate: As the Thelypteris palustris.
- Triangular: As the Gymnocarpium robertianum.
How many ferns are there in the world?
Ferns are magnificent plants, of which there are about 12 thousand species grouped into three existing subclasses: Marattiidae, Ophioglossidae and Polypoideae. In the past there were also these four: Cladoxydales, Stauropteridales, Zygopteridales and Ehacophytales, of which only fossil remains have been discovered.
They were one of the first types of land plants that began their evolution, more than 300 million years ago, more than 50 million before the dinosaurs did. Curious, right?
So if you have been wanting to know more, here you have more information about these plants.