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When dinosaurs roamed the earth some 400
million years ago, various simply structured flora began to develop in
small amounts. Some 60 million years after that (during the Carboniferous
Age), ferns, as well as other forms of traditional flora, were prolific,
growing as high as ten-story buildings (their incredible growth has been
attributed to a desperate need to reach sunlight past the thick haze that
covered the earth at that time). At the advent of the Permian Age, at
which time the movement of the earth's continental shelves was accompanied
by major changes and eruptions in the earth's atmosphere, severe and
direct sunlight inflicted the earth with drought and soaring temperatures,
destroying much of the fern that had earlier grown wild and unhindered... |
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In spite of the disruption and change
that occurred over the many millions of years, both epiphytic and aquatic
ferns have miraculously adapted, some of them extinguished and other ones
sophisticated, growing rampant until this very second millennium of the
Christian Era. Ferns must be appreciated for their strong resilience in
spite of such adversity, not to mention additionally for their medicinal
uses, and their agricultural and ecological value.
In this day and age, however, such benefits and value
obtained naturally is consistently seconded to technological innovation.
The importance of forests and national parks has been denoted to
accommodate industrialization. The promotion of conservation efforts
cannot always answer to a higher demand for consumption and change. Let's
just hope that in our quest for development and improvement, we do not
disregard the fern, simply because we may have taken them for granted. Let
us remember their well sought out place here on earth... |
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