Woods Road Trail is a trail within the Loch Raven Reservoir area of Baltimore County, Maryland. This is the trail right by the parking lot across from the Loch Raven Dam. I've seen it many times and back in May my husband and I decided to check it out a little. I walked along the trail until it took a steep downward turn which I knew I could get down without a problem but maybe not make it back up without a problem so that is as far as we went on this end of the trail on this particular day. I looked at a map of the trail later and I think I made the best choice on stopping when I did but I may try coming in at a different entry point in the future. One of the prettiest things that I noticed along this end of the trail though was the abundance of Ferns. So, for my walk today, I'll be showing off some of those Ferns.
It was almost mid May when I took these photos. It was sunny and warm but once on the trail there was plenty of shady spots from all of the trees. I think it also gave a nice effect on the Ferns that I saw.
Maryland has many varieties of Ferns and some that have been noted in this area of Loch Raven are Lady Fern (Athyrium felix-femina), New York Fern (Parathelypteris noveboracensis), Broad Beech Fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera), Hayscented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctiloba), Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum), Silvery Glade Fern (Deparia acrosticoides), Sensitive Fern (Oenoclea sensibilis), Fragile Fern (Cystopteris protrusa), Marginal Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis), Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron) and Spinulous Wood Fern (Dryopteris carthusiana).
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Interestingly, Ferns do not produce flowers or seeds. They reproduce by spores which are usually on the underside of their leaves.
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This next photo is one of my favorites that I took on this walk. I just loved the way the sun was shining through the trees and on the foliage.
Here is a the same area after I zoomed in a bit and if you look closely you can see a little Fern peeking from behind the downed tree. It almost looks like the sun put a little spotlight on it!
I saw several spots with swaths of both large and small Ferns. It was hard to tell if the smaller ones were just younger versions of the larger Ferns. I also wondered if some of the larger ones had possibly even survived over the Winter.
I do love the frilly leaves of Ferns although not all of them have the frilly leaves but I still love them too! They just seem to have a magical look about them and I find myself imagining faeries flying around them in a kind of dance-like way.
My last photo shows a fiddlehead on a young Fern leaf. Some but not all fiddleheads are edible. You do have to know what kind of Fern they are from and how to harvest and prepare them properly. I'm no expert on the matter so I would much rather photograph them then pick them. I did one time see a fiddlehead on a Fern along the Gunpowder River and asked my husband if he dared me to eat it. I'm so so glad that he didn't. I was pretty sure of what kind of Fern it was but "pretty sure" isn't the same as knowing "for sure" and if not prepared properly it can make you sick. Additionally, once I got home and looked at the photo that I took of it I noticed the long legs of a spider that was hanging out on it which I hadn't noticed while I was there. I guess that would've served me right but, luckily, I did learn my lesson and have since left the fiddleheads to other people to enjoy (one way or another) and, of course, to the faeries! 😉
Thanks 
All photos and text by me 
