Polystichum Korean Rock Fern - 13cm pot

Check out the sori on my Korean rock fern (Polystichum tsus-simense)! As you swipe you will get a closer look at the anatomy of these incredible structures. Sori are the spore producing structures of ferns. They are capped by a structure called an indusium, which kind of looks like a transparent shell in these pics. Underneath are the sporagium, which is where the spores are formed. If you look closely enough, these sporangium are ringed by a backbone-like structure called an annulus. As the annulus dries, it puts pressure on the sporangium to the point that the whole thing eventually ruptures, catapulting the spores out into the environment.