Plants and Beyond for Annual  Plants and Flowers

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta.

In Slavic folklore, ferns are believed to bloom once a year, during the Ivan Kupala night. Although it's exceedingly difficult to find, anyone who takes a look of a fern-flower will be happy and rich for the rest of his life. Similarly in Finland, the tradition holds that one who finds the seed of a fern in bloom on Midsummer night, will by the possession of it be able to travel under a glamour of invisibility and shall be guided to the locations where eternally blazing Will o' the wisps mark the spot of hidden treasure caches

Several non-fern plants are called "ferns" and are sometimes confused with true ferns. These include:

• "Asparagus fern" - This may apply to one of several species of the monocot genus Asparagus, which are flowering plants.

• "Sweetfern" - A flowering shrub of the genus Comptonia.

• "Air fern" - A group of animals called hydrozoan that are distantly related to jellyfish and corals. They are harvested, dried, dyed green, and then sold as a "plant" that can "live on air". While it may look like a fern, it is merely the skeleton of this colonial animal.

Ferns.

American Maidenhair Fern "The American Maidenhair Fern, Adiantum pedatum, is a deciduous, clump-forming fern which typically grows 1.5 to 2' tall and is most frequently found ... more	Christmas Fern "The Christmas Fern, Polystichum acrostichoides, occurs in both dry and moist wooded slopes, moist banks and ravines. It typically grows in a fountain... more	Cinnamon Fern "The Cinnamon Fern, Osmunda cinnamonea, occurs in moist, boggy ground along streams and on shaded ledges and grows in clumps to 2'-3' tall, but with c... more
Japanese Painted Fern "The æJapanese Painted FernÝ, Athyrium niponicum æPictum', is a low maintance, deciduous fern with soft grayish-green and silvery dark maroon foliage.... more	Royal Fern "The Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis, is a tall, deciduous fern which usually occurs on moist bluffs and ledges and along streams (sometimes growing in th... more	Toothwood Fern "The Toothwood Fern, Dryopteris spinulosais, is a delightful lacy plant. The Toothwood Fern, also known as the Narrow Buckler Fern, has true fern foli... more