BOGS AND BIG FERNS

The acidic bog environment and abundant water make Finzel and Cranesville ideal habitats for a variety of ferns, including several of Maryland’s largest: Cinnamon, Interrupted, and Royal. Unlike most ferns, which carry their spores in little packets (called “sori”) on the undersides of their leaves, these three ferns have entire fertile fronds that are (mostly) leafless.

Cinnamon Ferns have very typical fern leaves, with fertile fronts that carry spores all the way to the tip of the stalk.

Royal Ferns have blunt lobes on the leaflets and fertile fronds that are often more branched than Cinnamon Fern fertile fronds are.

Interrupted Fern has a frond that starts out sterile, is “interrupted” halfway up with fertile leaflets, and ends again with sterile leaflets. The sterile leaves are widest in the middle, tapering both at the base and at the tip.