British Pteridological Society - Fern World

British Pteridological Society - Fern World British Pteridological Society - The Society for Fern Enthusiasts. Promoting pteridology through the study of ferns, clubmosses, horsetails and quillworts.

Our wonderful 1st place prize winners! Congratulations to Alison winning the Pteridological Cup šŸ† for her Individual Cha...
21/08/2026

Our wonderful 1st place prize winners!

Congratulations to Alison winning the Pteridological Cup šŸ† for her Individual Championship of 8 ferns, and congratulations to Anne winning the Happyland Trophy šŸ† for her collection of 3 of a kind ferns!

This weekā€™s is our way of showing you that you donā€™t have to go a pristine site or a botanical garden to see some amaz...
21/08/2026

This weekā€™s is our way of showing you that you donā€™t have to go a pristine site or a botanical garden to see some amazing ferns. Here on this one wall in Liverpool there are four species of native wall ferns! Why not check a wall near you to see if thereā€™s something great hiding in the grout!

In this picture there is:
Wall-rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria)
Hartā€™s tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium)
Maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes)
Black spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum)

Comment below if you know how to tell the difference between these species!

Love ferns? clubmosses? quillworts? Then this is the place for you. Weā€™re the society responsible for the education, conservation and horticulture of this ancient and unique group of plants. From beginners to experienced professional pteridologists, all are welcome!

Here are some amazing pictures of Black Spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum) growing on the perimeter wall of St Micha...
14/08/2026

Here are some amazing pictures of Black Spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum) growing on the perimeter wall of St Michael and all angels church in Macclesfield for

Credit for these pictures goes to Jon Mortin (Jonathan Mortin ) who posted these pictures on Inaturalist and kindly agreed to let us use them!

Like ferns? clubmosses? quillworts? Then this is the place for you. Weā€™re the society responsible for the education, conservation and horticulture of this ancient and unique group of plants. From beginners to experienced professional pteridologists, all are welcome!

The herbarium at Natural History Museum, London is home to some amazing things. Here are some great examples of Lycophyt...
11/08/2026

The herbarium at Natural History Museum, London is home to some amazing things. Here are some great examples of Lycophytes from all of the UK for this

To start, whatā€™s a lycophyte? - These are plants that reproduce by spores (differentiating them from conifers and flowering plants) and have vascular tissue (differentiating them from mosses). They differ from ferns because they donā€™t have true leaves instead they have what are called microphylls! They include Quillworts, Clubmosses and Spikemosses.

Pictured:
Selaginella subcalcarata collected on the Island of Borneo
Isoetes histrix from Morocco
Lycopodium (clavatum subsp.) contiguum from Colombia

Love ferns? clubmosses? quillworts? Then this is the place for you. Weā€™re the society responsible for the education, conservation and horticulture of this ancient and unique group of plants. From beginners to experienced professional pteridologists, all are welcome!

Ferns growing outdoors at the University of Leicester Botanic Garden for Pictured:Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)Male fern...
07/08/2026

Ferns growing outdoors at the University of Leicester Botanic Garden for

Pictured:
Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)
Male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)
Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)

Like most of us, some of the ferns in the gardens have been suffering from the hot dry weather in the UK this summer so weā€™ve only included the highlights! Get involved in fern Friday by tagging us in your posts!

Like ferns? clubmosses? quillworts? Then this is the place for you. Weā€™re the society responsible for the education, conservation and horticulture of this ancient and unique group of plants. From beginners to experienced professional pteridologists, all are welcome!Ā 

Come visit us at Southport Flower Show this year! Weā€™re there for the whole event (20th-23rd August). Do you want to kno...
06/08/2026

Come visit us at Southport Flower Show this year! Weā€™re there for the whole event (20th-23rd August).

Do you want to know what the ferns are in your garden? Bring a picture along! Do you want to learn more about growing ferns from spore? Weā€™ll show you how to do it! Do you have a question about the complex biology of fern? Weā€™ll try our best to answer it!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

What is an indusium? This weekā€™s An indusium is a protective covering over the reproductive structures of ferns to pro...
04/08/2026

What is an indusium? This weekā€™s
An indusium is a protective covering over the reproductive structures of ferns to protect the developing spores! Getting more complex there are two types explained in the graphics above: True and Fale indusia.

So why should you care? Well indusia are useful for identification (different genuses have different types or shapes). Itā€™s also a great way to understand that not all plants have the same solution to the same problem, in this case some ferns grew a dedicated protective covering, others folded the edge of the leaf over to protect developing spores!

Comment to let us know what youā€™d like to see next. Some examples might be: Are tree ferns really trees? How do I identify....? How do I growā€¦? or anything else you can think of!

Thank you so Sadia Disha (Sadia Disha ) for this informative post!

Love ferns? clubmosses? quillworts? Then this is the place for you. Weā€™re the society responsible for the education, conservation and horticulture of this ancient and unique group of plants. From beginners to experienced professional pteridologists, all are welcome!

Weā€™ve got lots coming up this month all over the UK. 7th - East Anglia group - Visit to Lincolnshire nurseries8th South ...
03/08/2026

Weā€™ve got lots coming up this month all over the UK.
7th - East Anglia group - Visit to Lincolnshire nurseries
8th South Wales and Borders Group - Visit two sites near Neath
15th - Yorkshire Group - Askham bog
16th - Scotland Group - Fern fossils at East Wemyss, Fife
20th-23rd - Southport Flower Show
29th - Scotland Group - Autumn meeting muirburn

All members are welcome to come along to any meeting. Just make sure you let the meeting leader know youā€™re coming (further meeting details and contact emails in the calendar on our website)

Weā€™ve also gotten our website working on mobile, let us know how itā€™s working for you!

Love ferns? clubmosses? quillworts? Then this is the place for you. Weā€™re the society responsible for the education, conservation and horticulture of this ancient and unique group of plants. From beginners to experienced professional pteridologists, all are welcome!

Ferns from the glasshouses at University of Leicester Botanic Garden for Pictured:1- Staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurc...
31/07/2026

Ferns from the glasshouses at University of Leicester Botanic Garden for

Pictured:
1- Staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum)
2- Whisk fern (Psilotum nudum)
3&4- Veriagated Cretean Break Fern (Pteris cretica ā€˜albolinetata)
5- Mother fern (Asplenium bulbiferum)
6- Spikemoss (Selaginella sp.)
7&8- Squirrelā€™s foot fern (Davallia bullata)

Like Ferns? clubmosses? Quillworts? Then this is the place for you. Weā€™re responsible for the education, conservation and horticulture of this ancient group of plants. From beginners to experienced professional pteridologists, all are welcome!

Pityrogramma calomelanos is the next fern in our ferns of Bangladesh series! This fern is sun tolerant and considered a ...
28/07/2026

Pityrogramma calomelanos is the next fern in our ferns of Bangladesh series!

This fern is sun tolerant and considered a pioneer species colonising new areas after they are disturbed. Unlike some ferns you might be used to they have no indusia (protective layer) protecting their sori!

This is part of a series put together by a new member of our digital media group, Sadia Disha (Sadia Disha ) for who will be taking you through some ferns found in Bangladesh over the next few weeks!

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