Resurrection Fern

Description:

Not dead ... just dormant. These before-and-after photos of the same patches of Resurrection Fern were taken three days apart in September. Curled up one day. Crazy green the next time I walked by.

Habitat:

These particular ferns cover the trunks and branches of an old stand of pecan trees. But, you can find them growing on many kinds of large trees in Mississippi.

Notes:

From NC State University Cooperative Extension website: One of the most common yet overlooked plants in the Southeast is the fascinating resurrection fern (Polypodium polypodioides). The main reason it is not noticed by more people is due to where it lives. They can often be found growing on the upper branches of large trees like old live oaks. The resurrection fern is a true fern that reproduces via spores and not seeds. It is considered to be an epiphyte or `air plant’ because it derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and grows upon another plant, but is not parasitic. Resurrection ferns use creeping rhizomes to attach to tree bark and are often found growing on the tops of tree branches or in branch crotches in large clumps where they are able to collect the most water and nutrients. Many experts have estimated that the resurrection fern can remain in its dried state for at least 100 years. Unlike most plants, the resurrection fern is able to tolerate losing up to 97% of its water and remain alive. Just to give you an idea of how remarkable this feat is the majority of plants can only tolerate a 10% water loss before they begin to die back. This unique trait earned the resurrection fern the title of `first fern in space’ when it traveled aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1997. The fern was taken into space to observe its resurrection at zero gravity and the results showed that the fern was able to complete this process even without gravity.