Hand in hand with the reduction in size of single sporangia are seen more and more complex aggregations of sporangia known as sori. The meristematic area—the region of new cell growth—that produces them may continue its activities over a number of weeks, producing sporangia of all ages, older ones being pushed aside as new ones mature in their turn. When sori develop on the leaves of house ferns, they are often mistaken for tiny insects (young stages) or a fungus disease (older stages) rather than recognized as organs necessary for the normal reproduction of the plant.
The stages in progressive evolution of sori can be depicted as follows: (1) simple clusters of sporangia, these more or less coalesced (family Marattiaceae) or separate (Gleicheniaceae), all of them maturing at the same time, (2) gradate clusters of sporangia, the outermost ones maturing first, the innermost last, and (3) mixed clusters of sporangia, all ages present, the younger ones arising from the same meristematic zones as the older ones. The adaptive significance of this change is probably related to the duration of spore production, the mixed character of the more advanced sori extending the period beyond that of solitary sporangia or of simple, simultaneously maturing sori.
Sporangia and especially sori have traditionally provided the most important characters for fern classification. Indeed, many unrelated ferns were once classified together because of what are now believed to have been coincidental convergences in soral structure. Between one-half and two-thirds of the species of ferns have one or another of the following six soral arrangements: (1) A linear arrangement of sporangia along veins, avoiding the leaf area between the veins, is found in many fern genera, especially in the genus Pityrogramma. (2) A line of sporangia along the leaf edge, protected usually by a rolled-over and modified laminar margin, is represented by Pteris. (3) Round and naked sori (i.e., without an indusium) are found in Polypodium. (4) An arrangement of large sori that usually expand over the entire undersurface of the blade or pinna is represented by Acrostichum. Such sori probably arose by the fusion of smaller clusters of sori. Of the many arrangements of indusiate sori (i.e., sori that are protected by indusia, or special scalelike structures), two of the most widespread are (5) a linear or oblong sorus along a vein covered from one side by a narrow indusium, which is represented by Asplenium, and (6) a sorus that is round but covered with a kidney-shaped or shieldlike indusium, which is represented by Dryopteris.
The indusium
Protection of the sporangial cluster from exposure, drying, and other hazards is accomplished in various ways, such as by the formation of the sori in grooves or pockets or by the production of various forms of covers. One is the so-called false indusium, a rolled-over leaf margin under which sporangia form and mature. The true indusium is a separate and unique formation, the structural origins of which are not clear, that constitutes a more or less papery covering over the sorus. A widespread type of indusium among members of the family Cyatheaceae is one shaped like a cup, which arises around the base of the sorus, often enclosing the sorus until the sporangia are mature (e.g., Cyathea). In some genera, marginal sori are protected by a two-lipped, or valvate, indusium (e.g., Dennstaedtia, Dicksonia, and Hymenophyllum). When sori fuse laterally to form continuous lines, or coenosori, any indusia also tend to fuse.
Paraphyses
Approximately one-third of fern species have paraphyses of one type or another. These are sterile hairs or scales intermixed with the sporangia, and they are, like indusia, believed to perform a protective function. Paraphyses usually are hairs or modifications of hairs that arise among the sporangia or on the sporangial stalk or capsule. In various genera of ferns, the paraphyses have proved to be helpful sources of taxonomic data.
Cytogenetics
Chromosome numbers and polyploidy
The study of chromosomes, hybrids, and breeding systems has revealed much of value in understanding ferns. The chromosomes of ferns tend to have high base, or x, numbers, ranging from approximately 20 to 70, with the majority between 25 and 45. The familiar genus Osmunda, for example, has x = 22, Pteris 29, Asplenium 36, Dryopteris 41, Botrychium 45, and Pteridium 52. Ophioglossum reticulatum has 1,440 chromosomes, the highest number of any organism known to science. Among homosporous ferns, exceptions to the rule of high chromosome numbers are rare; in one species of filmy fern (Hymenophyllum peltatum), x = 11, the lowest number reported. Among heterosporous ferns, however, the situation is conspicuously different, and all have low base numbers (Marsilea, x = 10, 13, or 19; Salvinia, x = 9; Azolla, x = 22).
The explanation for the difference traditionally adopted by cytologists is that the high numbers in homosporous ferns arose from paleopolyploidy, the repeated duplication of whole sets of chromosomes long ago in the evolution of these plants. However, genetic studies have shown that in spite of their high chromosomal base numbers, most species act functionally as diploids (expressing only two copies of each gene in the sporophyte) rather than as polyploids. Evidence in support of the hypothesis that ferns are paleopolyploids is mostly circumstantial, such as several genetic studies that have demonstrated the selective silencing (deactivation) of various duplicate gene copies in recently formed polyploids.
Ferns overall still have relatively high levels of polyploidy, but these polyploids are all of relatively recent origin. Approximately 45 percent of the extant species of ferns are such neopolyploids.
The base chromosome numbers (indicated by the symbol x) have been used for classification purposes. Commonly, the base number is uniform for a genus or family, or it ranges around a given number. More rarely, the number varies drastically, as in the genus Thelypteris, which has x numbers ranging from 27 to 36, or Lindsaea, with x numbers from 34 to about 50. So much variation in the chromosome base number suggests that the “genus” concerned may be unnatural or that it may be very ancient, with intermediate numbers having disappeared (e.g., Dennstaedtia), or that it is in a state of active evolution (Thelypteridaceae).
Simple polyploid series—multiples of the base number—are prevalent among ferns, and a few species are reported to have forms or races that are diploid (with two times the base number of chromosomes), tetraploid (four times), or hexaploid (six times). For example, the fragile fern complex centred on Cystopteris fragilis has species with the number of chromosomes per nucleus in the sporophyte generation—represented by 2n—equal to two, four, and six times the base number of x = 42; or 2n = 84, 168, and 252. Species with both diploid and tetraploid forms are common, especially among widespread, abundant ferns. In most cases the cytological races are differentiated on quantitative characters, especially the sizes of such cells as spores, epidermal guard cells (cells next to stomates), and hair cells.