NEW BOOKS FOR FERN LOVERS
Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America, by Boughton Cobb, Elizabeth Farnsworth, and Cheryl Lowe for the New England Wild Flower Society. Second Edition. 2005. Peterson Field Guide series, Houghton Mifflin Co., New York. 417 pp. [ISBN 0-618-39406-0]. $20.00.
The late Boughton Cobb’s Field Guide to the Ferns, in the Peterson Field Guide series, was one of the best books ever published for fern identification. First released in 1956 and unchanged since, it became a classic. However, because names have been changed and family rearrangements have occurred over the last three decades, the book was in need of revision. The good news is that the New England Wild Flower Society has completely updated the text; the new second edition adds around 100 color photographs and has 136 more pages than the first edition. Identification keys and generic descriptions are much amplified, and the introductory material and glossary are thorough. There is even a list of useful web sites, and the bibliography is considerably expanded to include the very latest research. Thankfully, the beautiful line drawings of the original edition were reproduced from the original art and retained. Line drawings are often much better than photos for showing specific characters that are important in making identifications. Although designated as covering Northeastern and Central North America, essentially all species of our area can be found in this must-have field guide.
Ferns of the Smokies, by Murray Evans. 2005. Great Smoky Mountains Association, 115 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738-4102. 99 pp. [ISBN 0-937207-45-4]. $8.95. Available at outlets in and near the park, from the Association at the above address, by phone at 1-888-898-9102, or online www.SmokiesStore.org.
Ferns of the Smokies was written and mostly illustrated by Dr. A. Murray Evans, retired pteridologist of the University of Tennessee. This small book (4 ½ x 6 inches, ¼ inch thick) is packed with more information than its size might suggest. It covers the 64 ferns and fern allies found in or near the park (and with a few exceptions also found in the Blue Ridge). Each species gets its separate page with vivid color photos, description, and habitat information; 47 ferns are illustrated along with 14 fern allies and three independent fern gametophytes. Technical jargon is minimized, but some terminology is necessary. The introduction and two glossaries take care of this very nicely. There are no keys, but this is not intended to be a complete field manual. Ferns of the Smokies would be a perfect companion to use with Anne and Barbara Hallowell’s Fern Finder (2001. Nature Study Guild Publishers) which has keys, drawings, and maps but not the photos and descriptions found in Evans’ work.
A Natural History of Ferns, by Robbin C. Moran. 2004. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 301 pp. Hardcover [ISBN 0-88192-667-1]. $29.95.
Robbin Moran is curator of ferns at the New York Botanical Garden. His delightful book is unlike any other on ferns, and with his accessible conversational writing style the book represents science writing at its best. It is not a field guide for identification. There are 33 essays organized into six sections. Four essays deal with how ferns get their names, the meanings of those names, and why names are changed. Seven essays on fern adaptations and oddities tell about iridescent ferns, a potato fern that harbors fierce ants, leaf curling as in resurrection fern, poison production, and the spiraling of fiddleheads among other topics. Other essays involve fern reproduction and the search for fern seed, biogeography of ferns, and tales of ferns and people including the rather unbelievable tale in “The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary.” Moran cogently covers fern fossil history, how old ferns are, tree-sized clubmoss and horsetail relatives, causes of extinctions, and evolutionary relationships. In “The Falsely Named Fern Allies” he reviews DNA and other evidence supporting the contention that ferns and seed plants are actually more closely related to each other than either group is to clubmosses, spikemosses, and quillworts. To call these “fern allies” is thus misleading since in many ways they are not close to ferns. Whisk ferns and horsetails are more closely related to ferns and should not be considered fern allies, either, but rather as ferns. The old term “fern ally” will probably become obsolete in the future. In fact, the revised Peterson Field Guide to ferns uses the term “fern relatives” and departs a bit from the “fern ally” tradition. Evans in the Smokies book refers to fern allies but notes that they are older than and only very distantly related to ferns. My conclusion is that any casual reader of Moran’s book will learn a great deal without realizing it and will be entertained in the process; and the depth is there for those who look deeper.
Reviews
by James D. Perry, BGA Horticulture Committee
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