Sensitive Fern & Butterflies

There’s more to appreciate than birds. Ferns, butterflies, trees, sunsets. Concludes with a farewell to a good dog.

Sensitive Fern

Sensitive fern was found in the 1700s, in Virginia. “Sensitive” because its fronds “suffer almost immediate damage from the first fall frost.” It doesn’t flower or produce seeds. No fern does, they sporulate.

Sensitive is the only fern within the genus Onoclea. The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classifies it as such; my fern guide concurs. I…