Fern - one of the oldest groups of perennial plants, which arose long before the development of flowering crops on the planet. These plants have a peculiar structure, which is nothing like the structure of flowering.
Contrary to the mistaken opinion, ferns never bloom. In the wild, they multiply using spores located in the lower part of the leaves in the form of specific clusters (sorus), covered with films. Spores fall to the ground and a small leaf plate grows from them, which produces germ cells. 
Ferns do not have true leaves (as opposed to flowering leaves), but instead they are distinguished by peculiar leafy plates or, as they are correctly called, fronds. Among the variety of species of fern are many decorative specimens, which are widely used in landscape design.
Thanks to an unusual, exotic look, ferns can be a real decoration for the garden and give any site an aesthetic and slightly mysterious look. They look great in group plantings, as well as single tapeworms. Their fronds combine well with many floral and ornamental plants, creating a spectacular backdrop.
At the same time, each species of fern has its own unique individuality and stands out favorably against the background of other garden plantings. Among the ferns there are garden plants with different names, which differ in size and color. 
They can be gigantic giants, and small, lace, graceful plants. All ferns have one major advantage - the ability to grow and develop in shady and wet places.
Did you know? Hundreds of millions of years ago, in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, many ferns were large trees. It was their pressed wood that later became the basis for the formation of coal.Below are examples of the most common of the many types of ferns, each of which has its own name, with a description of the species and photos.
Ostrich feather
"Ostrich feather", "ostrich garden", "velamkuch", "black fern", "German ostrich" - These are all the names of the same representative of the most spectacular ferns. This is a fairly tall plant, reaching a height of 100-135 cm, with a short and strong rhizome. 
The ostrich has two types of leaves: sterile (numerous, feather-shaped, up to 150 cm in length, which form a funnel), and spore-shaped (there are 2-3 smaller, more unusual leaves inside the funnel). This fern prefers fertile soil, well hydrated, but without stagnant water. In a culture of quite unpretentious, stable, but in conditions of strong shading may die from lack of lighting.
With abundant watering grows very quickly. Pest and disease ostrich is not exposed. Reproduces traditionally - disputes, as well as the division of the root and underground shoots. This species of ferns was given this name due to the similarity of the plant's spore-bearing leaves with ostrich feathers. In the people he is also known as "forest lichen", "papurushina", "common chamomile". 
The ostrich feather is one of the most common types of fern in landscape design. They are planted mainly in partial shade, near artificial ponds, on alpine slides, in greenhouses or in ordinary pots for indoor growing.
In addition, it is an excellent option for mixborders, and between such ferns it is good to plant early flower plants, for example, snowdrops or crocuses, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, etc. As these flowers bloom from April to June, and after flowering they lose their aesthetic appearance, open fern will cover them and correct the overall picture.
However, not only decorative properties are inherent in ostrichnik, because it is also an edible plant. In the spring, young, not yet developed shoots, no longer than 10–20 cm, canned food or frozen in briquettes (of course, our fern is not often used as food in the north-eastern and middle-eastern countries).
Also this type of fern is successful. used in folk medicine as an anticonvulsant, sedative, astringent and antispasmodic. 
Wild grasses
Wild grasses spiky, scientific name "blekhnum spiky", - quite rare representative of ferns and in some countries of Europe is protected by law. The name of the plant comes from the word "wilds", which means hollow, ravine, overgrown valley.
This is due to the fact that the debris grows predominantly in dense shady forests, and it is called spikey for spiky, linear, feathery fronds that go straight from the rhizome. Being large, palm-like plant, dobryanka has meter leaves.
Stem - a modified rhizome, which can reach a height of about 50 cm (in old plants), and is covered with brown scales. Vayi -pistye, linear-lanceolate, dissected, up to 50-60 cm in length.
In the wild, this species grows in spruce, fir, and sometimes in the coniferous forests of the Carpathians and the Caucasus, as well as in some regions of Western Europe, in East Asia and North America. 
Ferns of this species are quite capricious in growing, they do not tolerate cold and drafts. Constantly in need of increased moisture, although they do not like spraying.
Female ferry
Female ferry - another variety of ferns, belonging to the family Kochedizhnikov. It has a lacy and graceful pale green foliage, which contrasts with the coarse leaves of the male thyroids. These two species often grow alongside, therefore, have long been called "male" and "female." Nevertheless, biologists consider such names to be incorrect for ferns breeding spores.
The female ladder grows in partial shade and in shady damp places, in ravines and forest peat bogs, in mountain and lowland forests. The name "nomad" indicated type received for the fact that in the swamps it forms hummocks. The ferry reaches a height of 30 to 100 cm, has double and triple dissected fronds collected in a spreading bundle. Spores from the bottom of the leaves are covered with a fringed bristle. The rhizome of this species is thick and short. The fern can quietly grow in one place for up to 10 years and is able to multiply by self-sowing.
The peculiarity of this species is also in its ability to maintain a fresh, as if just-revealed view throughout the season, which is facilitated by constantly growing new leaf plates. Such a feature distinguishes it, for example, from the same well-known ostrich, whose fronds are formed only in spring. During wintering, the leaf plates of the nomad skins die. 
This exquisite species of ferns is good for growing in the garden and looks great in the shady corners of the garden area next to the hosts. Especially popular with landscape designers are nomads of silver and purple color.
Did you know? There is a long-standing popular belief about a female nomad, which says: if on the night of Ivan Kupala sit in the thickets of this fern, hiding in a homemade tablecloth, then you can see the future.
Centipede
Centipede - rare species of ferns that grows in the crevices of rocks and has another name - "sweet root". It is distributed in forest, mountain-forest, subalpine and mountain-tundra zones of temperate latitudes. Popularly known as "oak fern", "earthen fern" and "viper grass".
It is a short growing plant, with dense, leathery, multi-leafed leaf plates, reaching up to 20 cm in length. The leaves are evergreen and retain their color for the winter. Creeping rhizome, shaped like an arthropod, covered with brown scales and has a sweetish taste due to the content of glycosides. For this, this type of fern and nicknamed sweet. 
Centipede spores are located below, along the central vein in two rows, have a yellowish-golden color and ripen in early summer. The centipede is very sensitive to light and trampling.
The species is widely used as an ornamental garden plant, especially when creating a collection of ferns in the garden.. It is cultivated both in greenhouses and in the open field when organizing landscape compositions.
The rhizomes and leaves of the millipede have healing properties and are successfully used in homeopathy and traditional medicine. Apply the plant as an expectorant, emollient, analgesic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, choleretic, diaphoretic and laxative. This fern produces essential oil, which is also used in medicine.
Important! You can not use a green plant in its raw form for medicinal purposes, as it is very poisonous.
Shchitovnik male
Shchitovnik male - The most widespread fern of temperate latitudes, which naturally grows in shady forests, on stony elevations and in mountains. The name of the species is of ancient Roman ritual origin, given in comparison with another, often encountered type, which was distinguished by its delicate, openwork, light green wyams. The latter was called female, and the one that had more coarse, dark sheet plates - male. 
The male thyroid is a beautiful and unpretentious fern, reaching a height of 30 to 150 cm. It has a powerful rhizome, light green, twice pinnate leaf plates, which are located on long petioles, form a glass-like rosette. The spores are located on the underside of the frond and are protected by the kidney-shaped, thyroid bracts. For this feature of the species and nicknamed britter.
Thyllaria fronds grow very slowly and in the first year form leaf buds at the top of the rhizome. In the second year of the growing season, the leaves become characteristic snail-shaped and densely covered with protective scales. And only by the third year, the leaf plates of male shieldman turn around and achieve their full development. In the middle of summer, they scatter spores, and by the fall die off. This species reproduces, mainly by dividing the root.
The male thyroid is widely used as an ornamental garden plant, and also as a component for the cultivation of garden epiphytes (fern roots are an integral part of the epiphytic substrate).
Did you know? Shchitovnik male - has long been the favorite plant of many people, popularly called "Perun fireflower". He was credited with magical properties and believed that this fern blooms on the night of Ivan Kupala. Whoever found the color of the fern that night, opened the gift of foresight and knowledge of the universe. Fireblood, supposedly, could make a man invisible, give power over evil spirits and bestow fabulous wealth and happiness.
Orlyak
Bracken fern - very beautiful view, well known to amateur gardeners. It forms lush thickets almost everywhere: in the forest-tundra of Siberia and Canada, in the dry forests of Europe, and also in Australia. The bracken does not grow in the wild only in very dry steppe areas and in deserts. 
The name of this type of fern comes from the shape of a leaf plate, because in Greek, the word pteris means “wing”, and the Latin aquila means “eagle”. Bracktails have a specific smell, contain tannins and have anti-putrid properties. Because of this, fruits and products are often wrapped in eagles leaves for greater safety.
However, for domestic animals, bracken is poisonous. The ash of this type of fern contains a lot of potassium, therefore in gardening it is often used as an additive for compost.
Unlike the ostrich, the bracken is a low fern and reaches a height of no more than 70 cm. It is unpretentious and can grow on rather poor, dry soils. Bracken rhizome - long, horizontal, very branched. Vayi tough, have a large three-pinnate plate. At the base of the lower leaves are nectaries with a sweetish liquid that entices ants. The edge of the eagle plate sheets is wrapped, thus covering the spores in the bottom of the sheet.
Despite the beauty of this type of fern it is rarely planted in the garden or in the country. Is that if the plot is close in style to the natural, natural, with a predominance of birch trees or pines. Then braces will look pretty spectacular.
Rhizomes of this species differ in medicinal properties. In folk medicine, bracken is used to treat cough, scrofula, pain in the joints and prostatitis, and in some states it is even protected. 
In many countries, such as China, Korea, Japan, some countries in South Africa, young leaves and bracken shoots are used as vegetables, like asparagus. The shoots are pre-held in salted water, fried, put in salads, used as a filling, seasoning and make preparations in salted and pickled form. Crushed rhizomes are used for baking bread. The plant is also used as an insect repellent, and as a raw material for making glue.
Tsirtomium Forchuna
This type of fern is able to decorate any interior. In the wild, it grows in the forests of Ukraine, Russia, Japan, Korea, China, as well as in the moist forests of South Africa. Unlike its counterparts, tsirtrium is able to tolerate shade, dry air, lack of moisture. This species has scaly, orange roots that are almost completely underground.
Fronds - large, shiny, gray-green, curved, leathery, pinnately dissected, grow straight out of the ground, and are located on a long petiole. On their lower side are disputes. The length of the leaf plate together with the stem reaches 50-60 cm, and the fern itself reaches 35-60 cm in height. Young plantings grow slowly, and in the conditions of indoor cultivation, this species is more modest in size. 
Stopant-shaped adiantum
Stopant-shaped adiantum - one of the most beautiful species of ferns, with small, graceful, delicate leaves. It grows in deciduous forests of North America and East Asia.
This plant is spherical in shape, reaches a height of 60 cm and has flat, fan-shaped leaf plates on thin, black petioles. Fronds - light green round shape, pinnately dissected, arranged horizontally. Sori located on the edges of the feathery sheet plates and covered tucked film edge of the sheet, brown. This is a very winter-hardy species that can withstand frosts down to -35 ° C.
Stopant-shaped adiantum retains its decorative effect throughout the season: from May to the first frost. Well reproduced by dividing the bush, which is best done at the end of summer. Prefers a shade, fertile friable subacidic soils and moderate humidity. Since the adiantum is very spectacular, plant it better in sight, in the central parts of shady flower beds. Looks good on stony gardens and terraces.
The plant has medicinal properties that allow you to successfully apply it in Chinese medicine as an expectorant. In the United States and Canada, fresh fern leaves are chewed with stomach diseases, and leaf plate infusion is used as an emollient and expectorant for chronic diseases of the respiratory organs.
Also, the infusion of leaves is used for rinsing hair. In Canada, Japan and Hawaii, fern stalks are often used as a finishing material for woven products. 
Aspleniums
Asplenium or Kostenets - This is a widespread type of fern for the garden, the main differences of which are in its leaves, not similar to the leaves of other ferns. Thanks to this feature, aspleenia are very common in indoor growing conditions.
The species is divided into 2 categories: evergreen and deciduous. It is grown everywhere, with some plants can be found in the tropics of Australia, East Africa, New Zealand, and India.
Aspleniums have a short, creeping scaly rhizome and large, light green leaves of various kinds, assembled in a rosette. Fronds are long, with wavy edges, pinnately dissected, triangular, xiphoid. The length of the leaf plates can reach 75 cm. In the center of the light green leaf plate is located the midrib brownish color. Aslenium leaves are very delicate and do not like touching their hands. Spores are located as in all species - on the lower side of the frond.
Asplenium species has many varieties (about 800), of which the most common astile nesting, Aspenium viviparous, South Asian Aslenium, Black Asplenium and Aspenium Lukaceous. 
With timely and proper care, this species is quite unpretentious, but does not like spraying, however, like many other ferns. Propagated by spores and brood buds.
The inhabitants of New Zealand and the islands of the Indian Ocean asplenium is used at important celebrations and events: they are decorated with the road of the newlyweds, the ward of the woman, and also escorted to the last journey. Доказаны и целебные свойства асплениума, он оказывает антибактериальный, спазмолитический и противовирусный эффект, а также выводит из организма слизь, очищает дыхательные пути.
Important! Practically all the varieties that a fern only has do not like when their leaves are touched (the leafy plates of the plants turn yellow in places of touch). Therefore, in order to grow beautiful ferns, they should be disturbed as little as possible.
