Not sure if I have made this post twice though was wanting to know if this ruffled Drynaria fern produces sproes as this is winter & the plant is about to loose it's fertile fronds?

Would like to try my hand at growing this fern from spore? cheers allan

According to this article in Wikipedia, it sounds like they should, although if it's a hybrid, perhaps not. Have you looked to see if there is anything that looks like spores on the fertile fronds?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Thank you woofie for the info from Wiki, yes have looked for spores though no sign hence the question.

Not sure if it is a hybrid though may be?

cheers allan

The little bit of looking about I did seemed to indicate that the ruffled one may be a hybrid. Lacking the botanical name, tho, no way to tell for sure. Does your friend possibly still have the plant label somewhere? Assuming he bought it?

Hi woofie, yep had the label originally, though was told it fell off & now the owner just calls it Drynaria Whitei?

cheers allan

Ah, if it is indeed Drynaria Whitei, that is a sterile fern, and only propagated by division.

Edited to add: At least according to these guys: http://tfeps.org/plant%20pages...

Much appreciated , allan

Hi, Allan,
If you're still around, perhaps I can shed a little light on your photo, and the two ferns shown.
The rear fern is a Drynaria Rigidula....a fairly common fern in eastern Australia, but rare in USA....selling for up to $200 there for a small species.
The front fern is indeed a Drynaria Rigidula Cultivar 'Whitei', a variety of the rear fern. It is very rare in Australia and is on the endangered list, mainly because it's very hard to find and it doesn't spore. It does, however, propagate by division. I believe that tissue culture was tried many years ago, but was mostly unsuccessful.
I have a fernery housing about 30 of these Whitei ferns, as well as a couple of 'ordinary' Drynaria ferns that actually have BOTH FRONDS (but predominately the basic fern.)
I have, on rare occasions, pondered the idea of trying to propagate from these fertile fronds, in the hope that I MIGHT get a Whitei fern, but have never got around to it.
If you would like some leaves to test, let me know and I'll post some down to you.....I'm on the Gold Coast.
Changi

Changi

That is a very kind offer, Changi. And
Maybe we can get @allanladd to notice by giving him a little nudge here.

Hi Changi, have been off this forum for a while as am in the process of building a new plant house which is 6m x 14m steel construction as well as dealing with moving some of my plants to friends to overwinter then as my place is too cold, came back to answer an email sent to me by a member of ATP & noticed your post.

That is a kind offer to send fronds though only if spore is obvious? My friend is an elder lady in her 80's & has 4 large baskets of this ruffled fern, I told her if I got time would help her split it up, if I do this & we get good results will put them up for sale, the price will depend on her?

My interest is just propagation of plants from seed or spore.

cheers for now, & thank you again Changi, Allan Ladd

Hi, Allan,
As you know, the Whitei itself does not spore, so division is the best/only option. Most of my plants are 'full Whitei', but I have a few that have both the sterile Whitei fronds, and also some fertile Rigidula fronds.
As stated earlier, I thought of growing some of these from spore, to see if the Rigidula spore( quite common) can produce Whitei ferns (rare plant). Perhaps the result could be just common Rigidula ferns.....or they could produce Whitei ferns....or possibly plants with BOTH sets of fronds.
I just don't know.
If you would like some fronds with spore, ie Rigidula fronds, I will gladly post some down to you. At this time of the year, the fronds will die-off awaiting new Spring growth. If the spore you need is obtained from the almost-dead fronds, let me know before too long as they're dropping fast. If you need new fronds, give it a couple of months.

Cheers
Changi
Sorry about the photo.....reduces down to 250x250 and produces low-res when zoomed-in.