Ferns and Allergies: Do Ferns Produce Pollen?
Ferns are great ornamental plants for interior decoration and purifying and humidifying the air. Although they do not produce flowers, they can be a source of allergies.
Plant Physiology & Biology Ferns, like bryophytes and club mosses, belong to the Pteridophyta family. They are moisture-loving and shade-loving spore plants that do not produce flowers or fruit. These plants can be propagated by division or by sowing spores. The spores, although used to reproduce ferns, are not pollen. They are located on the underside of the leaves and adapted to their production - sporophylls.
Fern spores are tiny, wind-blown structures that contain the genetic material needed to reproduce a new plant. They can be red, brown, yellow, or green. They are collected in visible points on the underside of the leaves in the form of sporangia. When the sporangia mature, it bursts and scatters the spores with the help of the wind, which hits a moist substrate, giving rise to a new plant.
Fern spores, although not pollen, may intensify inhalation allergies and asthma symptoms in allergic people. Due to their decorativeness and air-purifying properties of toxins, ferns are recommended for growing in apartments and around houses. Unfortunately, when microscopic spores are released, they are lifted in the air.
