TOWN OF DEWITT – A walk was held the afternoon of July 14 to locate and show how to recognize the variety of fantastic ferns within Clark Reservation State Park.
Leading the hike in the Jamesville park was Mike Serviss, a New York State Parks biologist for the Central Region.
At one point, Serviss gathered attendees around a northern maidenhair fern, which possesses hydrophobic foliage, meaning that when it rains, the water rolls right off even though that species prefers wetter forests.
Elsewhere in the native plant garden, Serviss pointed out a cinnamon fern, which is identifiable by the tufts of cinnamon-colored hair at the base of its pinnae and capable of producing a secondary compound that helps to induce germination in orchid seeds, he said.
Later, he presented to the group an ostrich fern, called that because it looks like the plume of an ostrich the way its fronds narrow and taper to the tip. Distinguished by the deep groove going through its rachis, the ostrich fern is a popular landscaping fern and an edible native species best cooked when in fiddlehead form come May.
Serviss said special preparations have to be done if anyone is interested in using ferns as ingredients since most contain carcinogens and different toxins that first need to be cooked off, going on to suggest pan frying the somewhat asparagus-flavored fiddleheads and adding them to pasta with butter or lemon.
After embarking on the Mildred Faust Woodland Trail, Serviss put a quick spotlight on the path’s namesake, a trailblazing botanist who wrote on Onondaga County vascular plants and other flora, taught botany at Syracuse University, and was involved in the early days of Hart’s-tongue fern conservation.
After hitting that trail, Serviss brought the walking group’s attention to a marginal wood fern with golden-ish scales, as well as one of the first ferns to pop up in the spring, the bulblet fern, which he said actually likes to lay down as opposed to being upright.
When they first appear, bulblet ferns’ stipes display a “very striking” bright red color that fades over time as the season goes on, he said.
Serviss also passed around a magnifying hand lens so people could see the clusters of catapult-shaped sporangia belonging to one fern, but he cautioned that people who aren’t hike guides employed by the park are prohibited from clipping ferns and taking out plants like he was.
He further informed the group that certain ferns can live upwards of 50 years and launch spores at 100,000 g-force.
Serviss specializes in rare and threatened plant conservation with a focus on propagation and reintroduction.
Clark Reservation State Park, the address for which is 6105 E. Seneca Turnpike, is holding a number of other events this summer.
That includes yoga on the lawn in front of the Nature Center July 27 from 8 to 9 a.m. with Vyana Yoga; a dendrology hike later that same day from 2 to 3:30; a nature scavenger hunt the next day, July 28, from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.; a park beautification event Aug. 1 beginning at 10 a.m.; an event for detecting animal tracks Aug. 3 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.; an informative orienteering walk Aug. 10 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.; an insect walk Aug. 17 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.; and a dog-walking event Aug. 24 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. meant to teach hiking safety, pet first aid, and etiquette for those who bring along their furry friends.