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Dryopteris
Dryopteris commonly called wood fern, male
fern, or buckler fern, is a genus of about 250
species of ferns with distribution in
the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with the
highest species diversity in eastern Asia. Many
of the species have stout, slowly creeping
rootstocks that form a crown, with a vase-like
ring of fronds. The sori are round, with
a peltate indusium. The stipes have prominent
scales.
Dryopteris are ferns consisting of a
horizontal root growing in soil called a
rhizome and leaves called fronds projecting
upward. Each frond is roughly triangular,
with branches along either side of a stem
with many small oblong leaflets. Frond
sprouts are called "fiddleheads" for their
resemblance to the head of a violin.
Spore Production
The Drypoteris fern life cycle begins
with a spore. On the underside of each
frond are tiny, dark spots called sori
that contain growths called sporangia
that produce and release spores.
Gametophyte
Each spore will eventually fall to the ground. Those
that germinate will form a gametophyte. The
gametophyte will then grow, forming a leaf-like
structure that attaches to the ground using root-like
rhizoids.
Sex Organs
When the gametophyte matures it produces sex
organs.The male organs are called antheridia and the
female, archegonia, both of which develop on the
bottom surface of the gametophyte.
Sexual Reproduction
The antheridia produce flagellate sperm that will
swim through a film of water to the archegonia. The
sperm then fertilizes an egg within each archegonium.
Zygote
The fertilization process will produce a zygote which
will then grow from within the gametophyte.
Rhizomes will develop beneath the soil and
fiddleheads will sprout, shooting up from the rhizome
to form a sporophyte.