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
Máedóc of Ferns death. The church of Llawhaden in Pembrokeshire, Wales, also commemorates him near the site of a ford he supposedly discovered while leading his oxen. Máedóc of Ferns Saint Máedóc ( 6th & 7th century), also known as Mogue () and Aidan (; ; and ""), was an Irish saint, founder and first bishop of Ferns in County Wexford and a patron of other churches, such as Rossinver in County Leitrim and Drumlane in County Cavan. "Aidan" is a diminutive form of the Gaelic name Aodh, Aedh, or Aed. The name meant "fire" and is related to the god of the