Resurrection Fern Pic and Story

Resurrection Fern

Yesterday I posted some pics from City Park in New Orleans that my brother in law Dennis Seals had sent me. One of the pics of an oak tree had an interesting plant growing on its branches. When I inquired about it, he sent me this note, and this new picture:

The plant that you see growing on the tree in the City Park Avenue picture is a fern commonly called Resurrection Fern (or Polypodium Polypodioides if you want to be pedantic). It is very common in live oak and cypress trees in the Deep South. It gets its name because it curls up and turns brown during a drought (really looks dead!), but almost immediately after a good rain it is bright green again. It is an epiphyte (air plant). I have attached a close-up for these ferns (right after a rain) that I took at Carol Sue’s. It ability to “resurrect” might make an interesting note in one of your stories. I grow a lot of ferns and we have a variant of this fern that grows in the ground and on tree roots. I have a few documents to clean up for work before the year is over, but will send some more pictures after the New Year. We also plan to stay put during the holidays – guess that comes with being old!

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