Happy Halloween!

Broad Beech Ghost Fern

At this time of year we are losing many of our local ferns. Some just turn brown or pale and disintegrate, but some turn white and stick around for a little while in protected areas. I call them "Ghost Ferns". They mark the beginning of the Dead Fern season! Challenging but fun!

The Broad Beech Fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera) is one of our local ferns that often has very nice white examples. Others include New York and Massachusetts. This year there are fewer white or ghost ferns around for Halloween, probably due to the dry weather we have had this Fall. I had almost given up on finding one of these nice big ghost ferns and was trying to get a good photo of an old dried up one, when this one popped into view.

About 8 News articles back I showed a nice green Broad Beech Fern and gave an explanation of how to differentiate the Broad Beeach from the Long or Narrow Beech ferns, so I won't repeat it here. This photo shows the very long and wide (or broad) lowest pinnae. The winged rachis is harder to see in this photo than the photo of the green frond I posted a little while ago.

So don't give up on ferns for the year. There are still some beautiful ones out there, and some of those will remain green all winter.

Posted: to PV Fern News on Thu, Oct 31, 2024
Updated: Thu, Oct 31, 2024