Ferns are prehistoric plants, older than dinosaurs. They are practically living fossils. Scientists consider that around 475 million years ago land plants emerged from the water.The earliest photosynthetic organisms on land would have resembled modern algae, cyanobacteria, and lichens, followed by bryophytes (liverworts & mosses). The evolution from algae to land plants was a lengthy process.
Ferns dominated the landscape in massive forests among the giant horsetails ,lichens, mosses, liverworts. Today’s modern Ferns have changed very little in all that time and represent a direct botanical link to their ancient heritage.
Whilst they may look frail, ferns are in fact one of the oldest plant forms on Earth, with plenty of fossil evidence. They belong to the group of Pteridophyta, with least 12 thousand varieties across the globe. Ferns provide shelter and protective ground cover for insects, reptiles and mammals.They range in size dramatically – from tiny house plants to tropical ferns the size of trees.
