{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.fern","code":"thing-fern","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/fern/","name":"fern","alternateNames":["pecopteris","filmy fern","film fern","bristle fern","hare's-foot bristle fern","Trichomanes boschianum","kidney fern","Trichomanes reniforme","flowering fern","osmund","royal fern","royal osmund"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"noun.plant","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.LIV"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":["plant"],"facets":{"substance":"living","origin":"natural","agency":"inert","mobility":"not-applicable","scale":"not-applicable","affordances":["observable"]}},"whatItIs":"Any of a large group of seedless vascular plants that reproduce by spores, with roots, rhizomes and fronds that unfurl from coiled fiddleheads; ferns grow in forests, wetlands, rock crevices and gardens on every continent except Antarctica, from tiny filmy ferns to tree ferns, and have an ancient fossil record.","purpose":"Let an agent identify ferns as a plant group, explain their life cycle and main families, relay cultivation, conservation and toxicity information from botanical and horticultural sources, and separate ferns from mosses, clubmosses and flowering plants.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Spore reproduction with a free-living gametophyte","Vascular tissue without seeds or flowers","Fronds and fiddleheads","Ancient lineage"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"identify","name":"Identify","description":"What fern this is.","layers":[{"id":"group","name":"Group","description":"Group and species.","findings":[{"id":"group-finding","name":"Group","description":"Group.","questions":[{"text":"Which group or species is it, and what features identify it?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the plant a fern, a moss, a clubmoss or a flowering plant?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"structure","name":"Structure","description":"Structure.","findings":[{"id":"structure-finding","name":"Structure","description":"Structure.","questions":[{"text":"What are the frond, rhizome, sorus and fiddlehead, and how do they vary?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific species?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"biology","name":"Biology","description":"Life cycle and ecology.","layers":[{"id":"lifecycle","name":"Life cycle","description":"Spores and gametophytes.","findings":[{"id":"lifecycle-finding","name":"Lifecycle","description":"Lifecycle.","questions":[{"text":"How does the fern life cycle alternate between sporophyte and gametophyte?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits alternation of generations?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"ecology","name":"Ecology","description":"Habitats.","findings":[{"id":"ecology-finding","name":"Ecology","description":"Ecology.","questions":[{"text":"Where do ferns grow, and what roles do they play in ecosystems?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"use","name":"Use","description":"Cultivation and use.","layers":[{"id":"cultivation","name":"Cultivation","description":"Growing ferns.","findings":[{"id":"cultivation-finding","name":"Cultivation","description":"Cultivation.","questions":[{"text":"How are ferns grown in gardens and homes, and what conditions do they need?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits horticulture?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"food","name":"Food and toxicity","description":"Edible and toxic ferns.","findings":[{"id":"food-finding","name":"Food","description":"Food.","questions":[{"text":"Which ferns are eaten, and what toxicity warnings do authorities give?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the user asking about a specific foraged plant, which needs expert identification?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"conserve","name":"Conserve","description":"Conservation and history.","layers":[{"id":"conservation","name":"Conservation","description":"Protection.","findings":[{"id":"conservation-finding","name":"Conservation","description":"Conservation.","questions":[{"text":"Which ferns are protected, and what threats do they face?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits plant conservation?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"Evolution and culture.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"What is the fossil history of ferns, and what role have they played in culture and Victorian fern collecting?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits plant evolution?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Identify ferns and describe their life cycle and habitats.","Care for ferns in gardens and collections on the keeper's instructions."],"mustNot":["Collect ferns from the wild where they are protected or from land without permission.","Recommend eating fiddleheads or ferns without warning that some species are toxic.","Spread invasive fern species into new areas."],"requiresHuman":["Removing ferns from protected habitats for research or restoration."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Wild collecting has threatened rare ferns.","Some ferns are toxic to people and livestock."],"affectedParties":["Rare fern species","Foragers","Livestock keepers"]},"owners":{"steward":"The landowner or the person who keeps it; nature authorities protect rare species.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["Species and biodiversity databases"]},"relations":[{"target":"oewn-11565975-n","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"vascular plant","type":"related","note":"seedless vascular plants"},{"target":"moss","type":"related","note":"non-vascular plants"},{"target":"horsetail","type":"related","note":"a related seedless group"},{"target":"clubmoss","type":"related","note":"lycophytes, a separate lineage"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.fern","Open English WordNet: oewn-11566165-n","taxon: Polypodiopsida class of ferns in current classifications"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["species: about 10000 species","height: a few centimetres to over 20 m - tree ferns at the top"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Fronds unfurling from fiddleheads","Spore clusters on the underside of fronds","Mosses lack vascular tissue; clubmosses and horsetails are related but distinct groups","Plants with divided fronds arising from a rhizome, spore cases on the frond undersides, and young fronds coiled as fiddleheads."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["identify fern groups and common species","explain the spore life cycle","relay cultivation and care guidance","relay conservation and toxicity information"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Toxicity of bracken to livestock and carcinogens in bracken","Invasive ferns in some regions","Over-collection of wild ferns","Misidentification of edible fiddleheads"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["CITES listings for tree ferns and some species","National wild plant protection laws","Plant health rules on movement of plants"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not for anything; a plant group, though used in gardens and some as food.","tree ferns","filmy ferns and bristle ferns","aquatic ferns","epiphytic ferns such as staghorns","garden and house ferns","fossil ferns and fern-like plants such as Pecopteris"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Open English WordNet 2024, synset oewn-11566165-n","url":"https://en-word.net/id/oewn-11566165-n","note":"sense and gloss of the concept"},{"title":"Wiktionary: fern","url":"https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fern","note":"word senses and usage"}],"openQuestions":["Should major fern families be separate entries?","How should regional floras be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases naming specific filmy fern species; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-fern/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-fern/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T20:21:37Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T12:16:27+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: WordNet gloss; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}