BBC Wildlife - UK (2021-12)

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 15

Swallowed any ferns lately?

You probably have, as their

minute spores are swirling

around us all the time.”

Ace naturalist Brett Westwood is being

playful here, in his 2017 book Wonderland

co-authored with Stephen Moss. But he

makes a serious point. Ferns are ancient,

flowerless plants that reproduce with vast

quantities of spores: “specks of primeval

dust, which surround us wherever we are.”

Ferns become more visible in winter,

when many flowering plants take a back seat.

One of the most distinctive species is hart’s

tongue fern, whose leathery, strap-like leaves

look – ironically – rather unferny. Its green

rosettes, the colour of Granny Smith apples,

may be seen brightening up woods and other

damp environments all over Britain. They

thrive among mossy rocks beside water, and

in the Pennines and Yorkshire Dales, deep in

the cracks of limestone pavements. BH

Primeval performers

As flowers exit stage left, ferns steal the show

IN BRIEF

Goby fish camouflage

themselves faster and

better when they’re alone,

scientists at the University

of Sydney have found. Due

to the metabolic cost of

changing colour, gobies won’t

camouflage completely whilst

benefiting from the safety of a

group. However, when alone,

a goby will more closely

and quickly camouflage in

response to a threat.

Lone changer

FACT.

An arboreal

gibbon native to

South-East Asia,

the siamang has

a throat sac that

can inflate to the

size of its own

head, allowing

its song to be

heard over a

mile away.

Hart’s tongue ferns

are in leaf year-round,

but winter is their

time to shine

Gobies

must follow

the crowd

or blend in

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VA

RN

DE

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NP

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Manx shearwaters
depend on this roughly
600,000km2 area of
nutrient-rich waters,
which lie beyond
national jurisdiction