Fern plants. Like all other vascular plants, the diploid sporophyte is the dominant phase or generation in the life cycle. The gametophytes of ferns, however, are very different from those of seed plants. They are free-living and resemble liverworts, whereas those of seed plants develop within the spore wall and are dependent on the parent sporophyte for their nutrition. A fern gametophyte typically consists of: Ferns first appear in the fossil record in the early Carboniferous period. By the Triassic, the first evidence of ferns related to several modern families appeared. The great fern radiation occurred in the late Cretaceous, when
Rube Ferns 4,500 at the International Athletic Club in Ft. Erie, Ontario, Canada in a ninth-round knockout. In another bout which was very likely a title defense, Ferns defeated Charles Dutch Thurston on November 28, 1901 at the Light Guard Armory in Detroit, Michigan in a full fifteen round points decision. On December 18, 1901 Ferns lost the Welterweight Championship of the World to the great Barbados Joe Walcott, who was also one of the greatest lightweights in boxing history. Walcott defeated Ferns in a fifth-round TKO at the International Athletic Club in Fort Erie, Ontario. The "Toronto Star" wrote "Walcott battered