Ferns of New Jersey

Did you ever stop to look at a fern? They are one of the most interesting, beautiful and diverse plant groups in the world. Ferns are also one of the oldest plant groups, showing up in the fossil record 360 million years ago, more than 200 million years earlier than the first fossils of flowering plants. There are over 10,000 species of ferns throughout the world.

In ten days of our Bioblitz we have observed 48 ferns in 16 different species. Here are some of the highlights of our research-grade, native fern observations:

Emily Carkhuff's Sensitive Fern