A Fern Sporangia

Looking through a binocular microscope
at a fern frond
in reflected light

I saw the outer ring of a sporangia;

a golden broken annulus,
segmented centipede of a dozen single cells
curling back upon itself
as did its own fern crosier before
and underneath each fractal frond
beneath
those white black holes,
dark sporangia
on slender stalks
each with an explosive golden belt,
an annulus
dehiscing haploid spores.



picture thanks to Cornell University