A group of ten fern enthusiasts found at least ten species of ferns at the Hall’s Lake Natural Area fern walk on July 14th. With expert instruction from Dr. Doug Valek, the group learned various fern parts, fern allies that are not actually ferns, and how to use a key sheet to aid in identification. Then a walk through just a tiny portion of the Kabana Preserve, where new learning was put to the test.
Ferns have been around since the dinosaurs and haven’t changed much in all that time. This group of explorers didn’t make any new discoveries, but great time seeing how well the ferns are doing on our protected lands. Species encountered included: bracken fern, sensitive fern, interrupted fern, cinnamon fern, royal fern, lady fern, ostrich fern and three different woodland ferns.
Join us for our next outing, a mushroom walk, scheduled for July 23rd at Sylvan Solace.
