As Pip Squire’s column on the myth, magic and allure of ferns continues, she contemplates their feathery forms.
The roots of the word ‘fern’ in both Greek (pterís) and Anglo-Saxon (fearn) are derived from words meaning feather or wing. When you pair that with the fact that so many ferns are capable of epiphytic growth — growing on the surface of other plants, but without feeding on them — it’s like the ferns, the feathers of the plant world, are turning branches into wings. I just love that flight of fancy; choosing to see the magical in the everyday.
Where I grew up on Dartmoor, you’ll notice a lot of ferns growing on the trees. There’s one on the wisteria stem right outside my front door, which our friendly local robin likes to perch on. If you zoom in, it’s like there’s a whole world on a single branch.
When I found out that epiphytic growth is indicative of being in a rainforest, I understood that that meant I lived in a rare ecosystem. I feel very lucky to live between places where I get to witness first-hand so many mythical-seeming processes and seasonal changes.
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As told to the editor.
An artist based in Devon and Cornwall, Pip Squire is a colour enthusiast, and a lover of the stories contained in plants, people and animals.