Master Gardener: Pteridomania isn’t just for Victorians anymore

By Katie Lutz

WSU Master Gardener

One could say we are living in an age of pteridomania, or “fern fever,” but we are certainly not the first to have this obsession.

In the 19th century, the English were fascinated by ferns. It all started in 1829 with the invention of the Wardian case, a precursor to the terrarium that allowed collectors to transport and keep more exotic plants alive. A man named George Loddiges took inspiration from that to build the world’s largest hothouse, which featured a fern nursery. While trying to promote his new hothouse, he started a rumor that “fern collecting showed intelligence and improved both virility and mental health.” And what do you know: A fad was born.

The fern craze was accessible to all classes of society; from the poor to the upper levels of the aristocracy, collecting ferns was the hobby of choice. Ferns, and in general the subject of botany, were considered a worthwhile and morally acceptable hobby for women of the time. Instead of tea parties and needlework, hostesses took guests fern-hunting. You could soon find fern designs on everything from dresses and biscuits to tombstones and chandeliers.

That infatuation didn’t wane until the advent of World War I, and only now are we starting to see the return of the fern.

As we all know, ferns have become a key feature of Pacific Northwest gardens. They add beauty and texture to any garden, as well as serve as a bio-indicator of the health of the local ecosystem. They also make excellent houseplants.

Ferns have few predators. The most common issues stem from snails, slugs and beetles feeding on new growth, and fungi infecting them.

Roughly 40 native species can be found in the Pacific region; and, with somewhere between 9,000 and 15,000 species worldwide (including the Arctic), you can find a fern to fit almost any habitat need. The wide discrepancy in the number of species stems from a combination of some not being well-studied and the continual discovery of new ones around the world.

These ancient plants have origins dating back about 359 million years, to the Carboniferous Period. Ferns predate the first dinosaurs by about 130 million years, and flowering plants wouldn’t come into existence for 100 million years after that.

Today, they range in size from plants that measure eight one-hundredths of an inch tall to tree ferns that can reach 80 feet in height. Some grow on other plants, some grow on rocks, some grow as vines, and others grow floating on the surface of water. Many ferns play a role in ecological succession: Certain species are the first plants that will grow in open or disturbed areas.

The value of ferns isn’t just horticultural, even though they are now sold by the millions in nurseries around the world. Historically, humans used them as a source of medicine and as an emergency food source. In modern times, they are of great importance to biological research. Specifically, water ferns — with their short life cycles and high rate of mutation — are used to study and teach genetics.

And in Southeast Asia, scientists have discovered a symbiotic relationship between the aquatic mosquito fern and a blue-green alga that lives in pockets on the leaves. The algae convert nitrogen, an important nutrient for plants, into a form usable by the aquatic fern and other plants nearby. When the fern and algae are both found in rice paddies, a significant increase in productivity has been observed.

So, if you haven’t already, catch some pteridomania and start gardening with ferns today.

Katie Lutz, a resident of Hoquiam, joined the WSU Master Gardener Program in 2016.