- 1). Take pictures of the ferns you wish to identify or dig up a specimen, including some of the rhizomes.
- 2). Find pictures either online or in a book of a wide variety of ferns. This will help you identify the types you encounter.
- 3). Look at the fronds (leaves) of the ferns, as there are many different types. A simple frond, for example, is a long, undivided leaf. Whereas a pinnatifid is a leaf type with many blades almost cut to the center, or rachis, but not quite. The rachis is the stalk of the frond. A pinnate is a blade divided into leaflets with each leaflet cut all the way to the rachis.
- 4). Turn over the fronds and look for small, usually brown, spots. These are the spore cases, and finding them can indicate what type of fern you have. Some species have entire stems dedicated to the spore cases.
- 5). Look at the placement of the spore cases, this can indicate a twice-compound fern.
- 6). Compare the size of the ferns you find to others, as well as their shape, the number of leaflets on each frond and the vein patterns on the leaves. These will all help you distinguish one fern from another.
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