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The shape of a tightly-coiled fern that is waiting to unfurl appeals to me greatly. There’s something secretive and a little magical about that small green spiral full of the life and energy of growth that draws me to it.
I was fortunate to come across these ferns before they had completely unfurled their fronds (most of the ferns there already had), so that I could attempt to capture the detail of the croziers. Croziers, or fiddleheads, are the descriptive names given to the still-curled tip of the fern frond. (‘Croziers’ after the curved shape of a bishop’s crozier, and the reason for ‘fiddlehead’ is easy to see.)
Soon these tips will have opened out. The intermediate stage, where there is still a slight, elongated curl to the tip of the frond, reminds me of a snake’s head. In my imagination, those uncurling tips are like tiny green serpents, swaying in the breeze through the sunlit shades of green. But I managed to catch these before they’d gone that far and there was still a little bit of mystery wound up inside.
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
Ferns do seem magical to me. There are so many varieties, but all offer that process of uncurling that’s absolutely fascinating. Apparently it does take some time; it doesn’t happen as quickly as a few nightblooming flowers will open. Still, thinking about that, I wondered if anyone had done a time-lapse video of the process. Of course someone did! I think you’ll enjoy this as much as I just did.
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Thank you for the link to that amazing video, Linda! I did enjoy it and I loved this video that YouTube suggested too… a tree fern unfurling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8wKrjLpnwk (I love both ferns and tree ferns and have seen a few lovely gardens planted up with them, but none close to me.) Enjoy the video! 🙂
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That was another great video. Watching it, I couldn’t help thinking the ferns resembled a human waking in the morning and stretching!
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In the second picture I imagine a caterpillar rather than a snake.
In New Zealand I learned that the Māori call a fern fiddlehead a koru.
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It’s a good colour for a caterpillar. 🙂 Love the detail of the koru photograph.
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Beautiful close ups, Ann. Ferns have always fascinated me.
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Thank you! I love the detail of ferns too (and made myself a fern logo for another website). I do have a single fern in my garden – it’s managing to survive in a shady spot, despite the dryness and I may try some more so I’ll be able to take fern photos at home. 🙂
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What a lovely idea! Having come from the northeast, I’ve been interested to see many other types of ferns since I moved to Florida 15 years ago.
I remember the term fiddleheads. Does that always refer to most ferns just before or while they are unfurling?
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I believe that the term refers to all ferns, from the shape of the still-coiled tip. I was surprised to read that the fiddleheads of some ferns are regarded as a delicacy to eat. However, you can get food poisoning if you don’t cook them correctly, so I don’t think I’ll be trying that!
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☺️
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Lovely details in these pics!
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Thank you Indira – ferns are a good subject for photography.
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