Robbin Moran

Christmas Ferns: Easy Native Evergreens

Posted in Horticulture on December 24 2014, by Joyce Newman

Joyce H. Newman holds a Certificate in Horticulture from The New York Botanical Garden and has been a Tour Guide for over seven years. She is a blogger for Garden Variety News and the former editor of Consumer Reports GreenerChoices.org.

When walking in the woodland area of the Native Plant Garden this time of year, you will meet up with the native fern Polystichum acrostichoides, commonly known as the Christmas fern. These ferns can form large, one- to two-foot clumps; are easy to grow; and are standouts in winter due to their evergreen leaves.

The individual leaves on each frond are stocking-shaped, reminiscent of Christmas stockings, which some people claim is the origin of the plant’s common name. But, in fact, the name “Christmas” fern comes from its having deep green fronds at Christmas time, says NYBG fern expert Robbin C. Moran.

Dr. Moran’s entertaining and enlightening book, A Natural History of Ferns, (available in the NYBG shop or by print-on-demand from Timber Press), explains how these amazing plants reproduce by actually “shooting” their very tiny spores. “The spores leap more than an inch into the air and arch downward,” Moran observes. “It is like watching popcorn popping.”

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Tip of the Week: Darwin and Orchids

Posted in Gardening Tips, People, Science on April 5 2010, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education. For hands-on demonstrations and orchid tips, join her in the Conservatory’s GreenSchool every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. throughout The Orchid Show.

One of the joys of working at The New York Botanical Garden is that you are surrounded by experts, enthusiasts, and curious minds. The Garden has a large team of talented research scientist who convene on a regular basis to share their work and interests in an in-house seminar series.

Recently, we were spoiled with the presence of Robbin Moran, Ph.D., Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany, who specializes in the study of tropical ferns and lycophytes. But rather than his usual discussions of systematics and pteridophyte matters, he shared with us his recreational reading over the past year: the six books that Charles Darwin wrote after his publication of On the Origin of Species that pertain specifically to the study of botany. Those of you who attended our exhibition Darwin’s Garden: An Evolutionary Adventure in 2008 will remember that the celebrated naturalist was an avid experimenter and committed to the study of botany.

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