Fern fern ("Onoclea sensibilis"). Giant water fern ("Salvinia molesta") is one of the world's worst aquatic weeds. The important fossil fuel coal consists of the remains of primitive plants, including ferns. Ferns have been studied and found to be useful in the removal of heavy metals, especially arsenic, from the soil. Other ferns with some economic significance include: The study of ferns and other pteridophytes is called pteridology. A pteridologist is a specialist in the study of pteridophytes in a broader sense that includes the more distantly related lycophytes. Pteridomania is a term for the Victorian era craze of fern collecting
Evolutionary history of plants to C. This ratio is denoted . C plants are on average around 14‰ (parts per thousand) lighter than the atmospheric ratio, while C plants are about 28‰ lighter. The of CAM plants depends on the percentage of carbon fixed at night relative to what is fixed in the day, being closer to C plants if they fix most carbon in the day and closer to C plants if they fix all their carbon at night. Original fossil material in sufficient quantity to analyse the grass itself is scarce, but horses provide a good proxy. They were globally widespread in