Simple Science/More Nature Exploration

When we were out on our nature hike we found a lot of ferns, well, that is not uncommon for our area, since ferns tend to be the natural plant of growth here. I did however notice something I have never seen before on the ferns. Maybe I have seen it before, but just never paid that close of attention, and you have to realize I come from a part of the State where we didn’t have beautiful ferns growing so freely, the only time we seen ferns were in flower arrangements.

 After a little research and closer examination I discovered that my hypothesis about these being a seed pod of sorts was wrong. They are actually called Fiddleheads from a Christmas Fern. This is how the fern grows new leaves. Wanting to take a closer look at these, Selena and I picked one and brought it home for further investigation.

  
Selena’s first observations were how soft it felt. Her second observation came with quite an exclamation, “Oh, look at all these tiny leaves!” I was still busy looking to see if there might be seeds in the upper part, I still wasn’t buying that there wasn’t more to this peculiar looking stem.

But all we found were leaves. The closer to the plant the larger the leaves, the further up the stem and spiraled in the curled end were tiny leaves, some so tiny one would think they were seeds. They came off easily and remained folded up like soft little balls, but if you gently started to open it you indeed found a tiny little leaf.

It just goes to show that when we really take the time to observe everything around you that you can learn something new.

For more Simple Science ideas visit Ticia at Adventures in Mommydum.