alien arms

ostrich ferns reproduce two ways: through rhizomes that sprout what are called daughter plants, and secondarily, and less often, through fertile fronds that produce spores. these spore fronds are described as having a beaded structure. but i can’t get over how much they look like dried meal worms. we used to buy dried meal worms for our chickens to supplement their winter diet. oh my, how they loved them! anyway, these dried spore fronds look very much alive and wriggling to me–little aliens with hundreds of beaded arms.

ostrich fern spore stems