Spores

The Flumlet was here again so I thought I'd show him the ferns in the garden.

At the moment they're producing spores on the underside of the fronds, as circular sporangia so we got out my father's fixed lens to examine them - and take a few photos for Tiny Tuesday. Interestingly, once we had released a few spores from the sporangia they had a habit of jumping and I had no explanation for this, except perhaps it was due to dehiscence, i.e., as they dried.

The length of the four paired sporangia in the photo is approximately 5mm. I've included an extra photo of the lens; my father collected beetles and he would use this three-legged lens instead of a hand lens when setting them on card, keeping both hands free. When we cleared the house I ensured that it came with me.

Thanks to KangaZu for hosting the challenge and apologies that this does not fit the optional theme of Christmas in July.