Spore Exchange

“The life of the Exchange depends on your spore contributions.

— Neill Hall, Spore Exchange curator (1962–88)

We are in need of fresh spores! If you are interested in donating spores please visit our spore collecting page. 

Background

One of the goals of the American Fern Society is to promote the cultivation of ferns. The AFS Spore Exchange makes hundreds of ferns available that would otherwise be unobtainable for most members. The spores from the ferns listed in the exchange have all been donated by members of the AFS. Members can share spores from rare or endangered ferns thereby safeguarding the species so that our grandchildren may also enjoy these beautiful plants.

Cost to Order

If you are an AFS member, spore packets may be ordered for 50 cents each (USD), plus postage and 6% of the purchase amount to cover PayPal fees (payments made by check do not incur this fee). Payments via PayPal are preferred, but check is also acceptable.

By donating spores, non-members are eligible to purchase from the AFS Spore Exchange. Spore requests are $1 each, limited to three per donation, and only of those species with 10 or more packets available.

Payments are made via PayPal.

How to Order

  1. Ensure that you are a member in good standing of AFS (by visiting this link and selecting “View my Dashboard”). If you are not a member and would like to join the American Fern Society, please visit the same link and select “Join the Society or Renew Your Membership”.

  2. Complete the order form (please choose: editable PDF or Word), including the order number of each species you are interested in, which you can find on the spore inventory form. There is a space on the form to indicated desired alternate species in case the ones you request are no longer available.

  3. Email your completed form to:

    Brian Aikins
    AFS Spore Exchange Curator
    spores.afs@comcast.net

  4. Brian will respond to you with confirmation and payment information to complete your order. Please note that he typically checks email once per day.

  5. Please note that this is a spore exchange; members requesting more than 20 species are encouraged to donate one species for every three requested. Donated species should be new to the list or species in need of replenishing.

Banner image (Adenophorus tenellus sporangia and paraphyses) by Tom Ranker.