DENDROLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Fiddleheads are the tightly coiled tips of ferns that are eaten cooked. These delicate delights are available only in early spring when ferns grow their new shoots. The young fern fronds are mainly available by foraging or at farmers markets.

Detailed explanation-2: -What Are Fiddleheads? In April, young ferns sprout from wet soil, appearing bright green against the decaying leaves. These are fiddleheads, so-called because the very tops-furled tight when young-look like the tuning end of a fiddle.

Detailed explanation-3: -Circinate vernation is the manner in which most fern fronds emerge. As the fern frond is formed, it is tightly curled so that the tender growing tip of the frond (and each subdivision of the frond) is protected within a coil.

Detailed explanation-4: -Sporophyte Morphology. Fern sporophytes are composed of megaphylls, often pinnately compound fronds that emerging as coiled fiddleheads in the spring. Sporangia are produced in clusters called sori (sorus, singular) on the fronds (Figure 6.3.