OK, bear with me, this is complicated. Spore capsules--there are several in each of these little circles on the underside of these backlit fern fronds--release spores. The spores blow around and germinate into a heart-shaped plant called a prothallus. The prothallus actually has the sex organs, and the sperm fertilizes the egg there. At that point, roots and leaves grow from the prothallus into a fern proper.
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