Hard fern in October
Blechnum spicant is easy to miss in summer, when everything is green. In October the bracken has gone brown and the hard fern suddenly stands out: two kinds of fronds, the flat sterile ones lying low and the tall fertile ones with narrow, comb-like pinnae standing straight up.
Found a good patch along the ditch below the old quarry, on acid soil under birch. The fertile fronds were already shedding spores; a tap over a sheet of paper left a faint brown dust.
Note to self: check the same spot after the first frost.