A
fern is a member of a group of approximately 12,000
species of
vascular plants that reproduce via
spores and have neither
seeds nor
flowers. They differ from
mosses by being vascular (i.e. having water-conducting vessels). They have
stems and
leaves, like other vascular plants. Most ferns have what are called
fiddleheads that expand into
fronds, which are each delicately divided.