That would be the resurrection fern.
It’s an air plant, also known as an epiphyte, which means it attaches itself to another plant, and catches what water and nutrients it can directly from the sky or from the outer surface of its host plant.
But more than that, it’s a meteorological indicator.
All brown and shriveled: that’s the resurrection ferns way of telling us the dry season is still here.
But don’t be fooled, they're not dead.
All it takes is a splash of rain for them to unfurl dainty fronds of vivid green.
That’s the first sign that the wet season is here, and the swamps will be rising soon.
Now we're getting ahead of ourselves.
The top photo is of the "shriveled up" variety, taken just last week in a pond apple swamp north of Alligator Alley.
The bottom one is from 10 months earlier along the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in early June (... and you guessed it, just after the wet season had begun).
12 comments:
Hi Bob, I've heard of the Resurrection Fern... They are just like us humans! we can be hot and dry and hungry... Give us something to drink, a nice shower, and feed us----and we'll perk up like we're brand new!!!! We've also been resurrected!!!!! ha
Betsy
Interesting post. We also have this kind of plants in our country. Thanks for stopping by my blog and giving such a nice comment..
What a difference a little water makes. That's an interesting plant.
Wow, look at the difference! I wouldn't have known that these epiphytes were still alive. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day :)
I hope too many of them aren't getting burned up in all the wildfires. Dry season may be a natural cycle, but I'll be glad when we get some rain.
Isn't nature wonderful - it's amazing how much difference a shower of rain makes. Air plants are incredible. Here in UK we can buy small ones from garden centres, often set into a display of some sort, and the flowers they produce are truly spectacular.
Thank you for visiting my blog earlier. A
I had and loved one of these plants. Afraid to admit that I sometimes purposely "killed" it just to see it come back to life. Yea, I know I am warped.
I saw this resurrection happen a couple of weeks ago. In a space of just a day or so after a nice soaking rain, these brown ferns on my neighbor's live oak trees suddenly were green again. Fascinating phenomenon!
Thanks for your comments.
Yes, all it takes is a good week of rain. Dry season rains are usually once in a blue moon (or gray cloud) events. It's the regular pattern of summer rains, or week of steady showers (as occurred up in Tallahassee recently) that bring them to life. I read that they can 100 years without rain. If that's the case, that makes them the Rip Van Winkle of the plant world.
It's a beautiful plant that adds so much character to our droopy live oak limbs.
What a contrast! How interesting.
I often wonder about the name of this kind of fern. Like I said above, your blog is very interesting and educational.
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