Showers and Thunderstorms Across the East; Rain and Mountain Snow out West. A frontal boundary draped from the Mid-Atlantic to Texas will continue to focus showers with the potential for locally heavy precipitation. A new active storm pattern will bring rain with mountain snow to the west. Pacific storms moving into the Central U.S. this week will bring showers and thunderstorms to the northern states. Read More >. Customize Your Weather.gov.
The prothallium produces both male and female sexual organs. When the female organs become fertilized by the male organs, small fern plants begin to grow. In some ferns it can take as long as six months for the first fronds (leaves) to appear after sexual fertilization.
Spores and Sporangium. Ferns differ from flowering plants and trees because they do not produce seeds. Instead, ferns reproduce using spores. The sporangium is the structure responsible for producing and releasing spores. Sporangium form in many different ways, sometimes appearing as brown fruitdots on the undersides of leaves. Others grow as slender stalks up from the plant. When the sporangia burst, the wind carries spores to new ground, where they form reproductive structures that, if fertilized, will grow into a new fern.