The leaf of a fern or palm is called a frond which is another word for leaf.
A leaf and a frond of a palm or fern is the same thing but with a different name.
The two types of palm leaves are fan shaped palm leaves and feather shaped palm leaves.
Fan shaped palm leaves are called Palmate leaves and have leaflets which radiate from a central point and resemble a hand or a fan.
Examples of Palmate palm leaves are windmill palms and Mexican fan palms.
Feather shaped palm leaves are called Pinnate palm leaves which have leaflets that are arranged along a central stalk that is called rachis and resembles a feather.
Examples of Pinnate palm leaves are queen palms and coconut palms.
Palm fronds and palm leaves are the same thing as palm frond is the name used to refer to the larger and sometimes feathery or fanned shaped laves of a palm tree.
Frond is a more specific name that is used for leaves of palm trees, ferns and even other plants that are similar to palm trees and ferns.
The reason why they are called fronds is because the word frond comes from the Latin word frons that means leafy branch or green bough.
The term frond is used in order to distinguish the leaves of palms and ferns from leaves of flowering plants.
Leaves in flowering plants are purely concerned with photosynthesis and fern fronds and palm fronds have both reproductive functions and photosynthetic functions.
The fronds of a palm tree are the leaves of the palm tree.
Fronds on palm trees are an important part of the palm trees structure as well as appearance and are also responsible for photosynthesis.
Fronds on palm trees can be feather like, fan shaped or other shapes.
Palm tree fronds are often green but can also be silvery or bluish in color and the size of fronds can range from a few feet long to several yards long but it depends on the species of palm tree.
The two types of fronds are fertile fronds and sterile fronds.
Fertile fronds are the specialized fronds which bear sporangia which is spore producing structures and are involved in reproduction.
The sterile fronds are the typical leafy fronds that are responsible for vegetative growth and photosynthesis.
Immature fronds are called fiddleheads.
After the new fronds emerge which is often in the spring they then unroll and are called fiddleheads.
Fiddleheads are the edible young fern fronds also known as crosiers that rise from the plant every year in the spring.
If allowed to mature, the green disks or immature fronds will gradually unfurl themselves into the broadly splayed fronds of a typical fern.
Due to their short harvesting season, fresh fiddleheads are a rarity in North America and are therefore usually quite expensive and are considered a delicacy.
The fiddlehead fronds have been and still is an important food and medicine for Asians, Native Americans and many other people all throughout the world.
Some other parts of the ferns or fronds are also edible like the rhizome which are also edible and the mature fronds can also be used many different ways.
Fiddleheads are a seasonal vegetable which can be cooked and eaten.
The fiddleheads that are edible are the Ostrich Fern, Cinnamon Fern and Lady Fern.
Fiddleheads tend to taste like asparagus or broccoli, spinach or green beans.
You can cook the fiddleheads by boiling them in water and then discarding the water.