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Adiantum pedatum
Delicate, green fern with reniform to fan-shaped leaves on a black to dark brown central stalks. Lateral sides of leaves are smooth and straight; outer sides are crenate-dentate. Sporangia (on the underside) are arranged near the lobed edges of pinnae. Ferns are a group of vascular plants that predate the Mesozoic era. Unlike the flowering plants (that evolved around 200 million years later), ferns reproduce via spores rather than seeds. These spores are located on the underside of the pinnae inside casings called sporangia (note: only fertile fronds have them).
Growing at the edge of a drainage path near the base of a ridge in a moist, dense hardwood forest.
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