The American Fern Society was established in 1893 with the objective of fostering interest in ferns and lycophytes, or pteridophytes. Today we recognize "pteridophytes" as including two distinct lineages of vascular land plants: the lycophytes, which include the quillworts (family Isoetaceae), spike mosses (family Selaginellaceae), and club mosses (family Lycopodiaceae), and the ferns, which includes the horsetails (family Equisetaceae), whisk ferns (family Psilotaceae), and the 10,000+ species traditionally considered to be ferns.  With over 500 members globally, the American Fern Society is one of the largest international fern clubs in the world. We exchange information and specimens between members via our publications and spore exchange. We sponsor Fern Forays every summer, in conjunction with the annual Botany meetings, to provide opportunities to learn more about wild ferns from experts and to meet other people with a similar passion for ferns. 

spore exchange

AFS members have access to spore collections from hundreds of fern species from around the world. Review our spore inventory and spore collection protocol for more details.

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publications

AFS produces several publications, including the general interest Fiddlehead Forum, scientific journal American Fern Journal, and the monographic series Pteridologia.