Ferns - Detailed illustration of nature - Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur

Reproduction engraving of: Ferns

Original title Filicinae - Laubfarne

Poster of Alsophila - Pteridophytes of the Fern class (Filicinae)

Illustration from the book Kunstformen der Natur, which is a collection of artistic lithographs of natural sciences published by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel between 1899 and 1904.

This naturalistic illustration is part of an overall style inspired by Ernst Haeckel, which greatly influenced the emerging Art Nouveau movement at the beginning of the ^20th century. This work, illustrating the impressive beauty and great diversity of the biological world, was complemented by a certain amount of scientific information, some excerpts of which are reproduced below.

This information is over 120 years old and some of it may be outdated!

Scientific classification:

 Phylium of Embryophytes (Diaphyta or Archegoniata)
Main class Pteridophytes (Pteridophyta)
Fern Class (Filicinae)

Scientific notice (extract) accompanying the poster print of Filicinae - Ferns :

Among the "art forms of nature" that play a predominant role in our temperate climate, but occupy a prominent place in the warm tropical zone, are mainly the delicately foliaged tree ferns. While these beautiful vascular Cryptogams with us are represented only by small or medium-sized herbs, never by emergent tree-like forms, on the other hand, in the humid climate of tropical greenhouses, numerous fern arborescences compete with the impressively growing trees in their slender stems and the beauty of their leaves; the individual leaves of some herbaceous stemless ferns (Angiopteris) reach more than 4 meters in length, while their petioles are up to 10 cm long; and between these species a multitude of smaller and lighter forms weave their way, so that the dense green carpet of the primeval soil is often dominated by them. This is especially true in the "eternally wet rainforests" between 1000 and 2000 meters above sea level among the volcanic mountains of the Malay Archipelago; here, more than a hundred different fern species can be collected in a short time, ranging from large and medium-sized forms to dwarf ones. In particular, the dwarf species of the delicate veil-like ferns (Elymenophylleae) are often smaller than the surrounding leafy mosses. A characteristic picture of such a tropical fern forest in the Malay Archipelago is given by our picture 92, which was drawn from nature on January 4, 1901, near the Tjiburrum waterfalls on Sava. The narrow gorge, located here at the foot of the Pangerango-Bulfan, is framed on two sides by 130-meter-high, almost vertical rock walls, over which three magnificent waterfalls tumble. The whole air is filled with water mist, and under the bright rays of the hot tropical sun, it offers the ever-thirsty ferns the most favorable conditions for their luxuriant and gentle growth. All other forms are surpassed here by the magnificent tree ferns of the genus Alsophila. On a slender, straight or slightly curved trunk, 12 to 15 meters high, spreads a magnificent crown composed of 20 to 30 large pinnate leaves; the young leaves, not yet fully developed, are spirally curled in the center of the crown; the old, dead leaves, together with the petioles, hang below like a tuft of brown hair (in the light part of the image). Giant palms are often referred to as the "princes of the plant kingdom," the Principes plantarum; however, the tree ferns, which are so similar to them, surpass them in many respects. For while the leaflets of most palms are simple lanceolate leaves of a stiff, armor-like texture, the slender fronds of tree ferns are themselves again strongly pinnate and divided into innumerable very fine leaves; and their light green foliage is so delicate and translucent that it allows some of the sun's rays to pass through. The brown or black trunk is often delicately ribbed or scaly. In particularly remarkable richness and profusion, thrives near the waterfalls of Tjiburrum—and also in the neighboring primeval forest of Tjibodas—the curious bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus, right in the middle of our picture). A regularly rounded, often semi-fleeting crown is formed by a tuft of numerous tongue-like leaves, which rise in an elegant arch upwards and fall back outwards; they reach more than 1 meter, sometimes even up to 2 meters, in length. The center of this clump forms a funnel where moss debris and waste falling from the trees accumulate. In the abundant humus formed by their decomposition, numerous arthropods, such as insects, spiders, and myriapods, gather, as well as numerous light purple glow-worms, measuring 30 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter. Beneath the leaf canopy hang tufts of brownish-black dead leaves. These lush green "bird's nests" sit by the thousands on old tree trunks or on vines swaying from tree to tree; sometimes a single "bird's nest" crowns the end of a broken tree trunk and gives the impression of a peculiar form of tree fern (as in our figure). Among the smallest fern plants of the primeval forest, the delicate four-eared fern (Pteris quadriaurita, below right) is frequently found in all tropical regions; its stems and leaf veins are beautifully colored, and often even the green leaves themselves take on this color in various tones and shades. Elegantly, it unfurls its crown on the ground of a powerful Angiopteris (below left). Tree trunks are often entirely covered with hanging tufts of a beautiful Polypodium, which resemble tiles arranged in scales. Meanwhile, on the ground, a multitude of smaller and very small fern plants proliferate. Some delicate species of Elymenophyllum are finer than the large leafy mosses under which they hide. A small bush of fine grass resembles the tiny Monogramma; but if we examine the underside of these fine, threadlike leaves, we see a row of brown spore receptacles, evidence of their fern-like maturity.

Species present on the naturalist board of Fougères - Alsophila :

• Alsophila
• Asplenium nidus
• Pteris quadriaurita
• Angiopteris
• Polypodium