From Booklist
From the curator of ferns at the New York Botanical Garden comes a meticulously researched, soundly organized, and entertainingly written treatise on the biology of one of nature's loveliest--and often most misunderstood--plants. Ferns, for all their cool beauty and exotic allure, are anomalies of the plant world because of their distinctive form of reproduction, by spore rather than seed. Moran examines this and other essential processes in a scholarly manual that sets forth in a single volume the wealth of material usually accessible only through intricate research. As opposed to field guides focusing primarily on identification, this history explains the unique life cycle and explores the evolutionary adaptations that have occurred throughout the species' 340-million-year history. Exhibiting a storyteller's flair, Moran opens each chapter with an engaging vignette or anecdote to instantly engage the reader, thus elevating what could be a pedantic discourse into an enjoyable discussion. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


From Book News, Inc.
Oliver Sacks, renowned neurologist and fellow pteridologist (student of ferns), rightly introduces Moran as an engaging writer as well as leading expert on these vascular plants. In a book originating from articles for the American Fern Society's Fiddlehead Forum, Moran (New York Botanical Garden; Fern Grower's Manual, Timber Press, 2001) treats such topics as the fern's asexual lifestyle, living fossils, and similarities between North American and Asian flora. He includes distribution maps, a glossary, and color plates.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Book Description
A Natural History of Ferns is an entertaining and informative look at why ferns and their relatives are unique among plants. Ferns live in habitats from the tropics to polar latitudes, and unlike seed plants, which endow each seed with the resources to help their offspring, ferns reproduce by minute spores. There are floating ferns, ferns that climb or live on trees, and ferns that are trees. There are poisonous ferns, iridescent ferns, and resurrection ferns that survive desert heat and drought. The relations of ferns and people are equally varied. Moran sheds light on Robinson Crusoe's ferns, the role of ferns in movies, and how ferns get their names. A Natural History of Ferns provides just what is needed for those who wish to grow ferns or observe them in their habitats with greater understanding and appreciation.


From the Inside Flap
In A Natural History of Ferns, Robbin Moran, curator of ferns at the New York Botanical Garden, takes an entertaining and informative look at why ferns and their relatives are unique among plants. They live in habitats from the tropics to polar latitudes. Unlike seed plants, which endow each seed with the resources to help their offspring, ferns reproduce by spores. A single leaf of a wood fern can easily shed more than 7 million spores, and for every plant we recognize as a fern, there first was a different, very un-fern-like plant that is almost never seen. But with about 12 thousand living species and a history dating back more than 340 million years, ferns have risen to the challenges of life. There are floating ferns, ferns that climb or live on trees, and ferns that are trees. There are poisonous ferns, iridescent ferns, and resurrection ferns that survive desert heat and drought. There are ferns that multiply without producing spores at all.The relations of ferns and people are equally varied. Moran sheds light on Robinson Crusoe's ferns, the role of ferns in movies, and how ferns get their names. A Natural History of Ferns provides just what is needed for those who wish to grow ferns or observe them in their habitats with understanding and appreciation. It is a book for those who would like to know more about the curious ferns.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Falstaff, Prince Hal and Poins scheme to rob a rich merchant on his way to London in the dark hours of the early morning. Because they need help with the heist, one of Falstaff's henchmen tries to persuade another theif to join them. He says to the thief, "We steal as in a castle, cock-sure; we have the receipt of fern-seed, we walk invisible," to which the theif replies, "Nay, by my faith, I think you are more beholding to the night than to fern-seed for your walking invisible" (act 2, scene 1, lines 95-98). What do the theives mean by fern seed? Anyone who has taken a botany course knows that ferns do not have seeds; instead they disperse by tiny dust-like spores. Did people in Shakespeare's day believe that ferns had seeds? And what is this about walking invisible? In 1597 when Henry IV was written and first performed, the belief that ferns had seeds was common. To be sure, no one had ever seen a fern seed, but how could ferns--or any plant, for that matter--reproduce without such propagules. Therefore, the reasoning was that ferns must have seeds. "The views of those who believe all plants have seeds are founded on very reasonable conjectures," wrote Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, a celebrated French botanist, in 1694.

FROM THE PUBLISHER