Fern Book

[Jenny W]

I'm just starting with ferns and am using the AIDGAP 'Fern Guide' by James Merryweather - nice key, easy to use. But is there a book available that gives more info on distribution, size, habitat and general stuff like that?

I know there's an atlas available from the British Pteridological Society - can anyone recommend this?

Thanks

J

[The Woodman]

The AIDGAP guide is good.

Recommend Roger Phillips Grasses, Ferns, Mosses & Lichens published by Pan Books ISBN 0 330 25959 8 as a good general pictorial guide plus the benefit of the other stuff, then....

British Mosses and Ferns by Peter Taylor in The Kew Series pub. Eyre and Spottiswoode. Probably out of print but available s/h.

and lastly Ferns for Garden and Greenhouse by A J Macself pub W H & L Collingridge Ltd is useful for the variants and propagation and cultivation, again probably a s/h purchase required.

Mind you, ID'ing a Common Polypody on this forum is fraught with pitfalls! You'll find out that there are southern, western, south-western, south south western varieties and hybrids of them all!

My advice, get yourself a copy of Phillips.

I've never seen the Atlas in the flesh.

[treecreeper]

If money is no object I recommend Colour Identification Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of the British Isles and North Western Europe by Francis Rose.

Colour Identification Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of the British Isles and North Western Europe: Francis Rose: Amazon.co.uk: Books

I think it's out of date on scientific names but they'll probably keep changing anyway!

[pleb]

If you want to get into ferns in some detail, a good book is 'Welsh Ferns' by G. Hutchinson and B. A. Thomas. Despite its name, it covers all Britain's ferns and has a key and distribution maps as well as descriptions and background stuff on the biology of ferns. I have the 7th edition published in 1996 which I find very useful. It is published by The National Museum & Galleries of Wales.

Ferns are easy enough to identify once you get into them although one or two are challenging, like the Polypodies, but they are the exception. A x 10 lens is very helpful, if not essential.

Hope you find this of use to you

[Jenny W]

Thanks everyone - there's some of your suggestions available quite cheaply second hand, as well as the one's still in print.

Cheers,

J