Does this look like a plant to you?
When I first saw this, I thought it was some kind of mutant tarantula curled up waiting for its prey. I half expected it to unfurl and ambush Mrph with its seven-segmented legs, inject him with venom, and drag him deep into the earth -- as tarantulas apparently do with their prey. Happily, that nightmare did not unfold.
Turns out that this "creature" is a fern -- one of about a zillion that we have throughout the property -- but its transformation from monster to feathery frond was fascinating.
Over a couple of weeks, it unclenched its tendrils, which seemed to be individually wrapped in parchment. As it uncurled, it outgrew that skin, shedding it the way a snake molts. Then it stretched tall and scrawny, finally filling out into an almost adult fern. A far cry from its creepy beginnings!
Full disclosure: Ferns are not my favorite plant. I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with them. We have some Japanese ferns with lovely blueish gray leaves. They are grouped under one of our oaks, and they seem to behave themselves and stay put.
Japanese ferns, reporting for duty and stationed where they're supposed to be for maximum growth.
Then we have a very badly behaved, generic fern (I'm sure it has a name, but it's both prolific and undistinguished, so I refuse to do the research to find out what it is -- yes, I'm being a bit vengeful considering it's just a plant.) Left alone, it will overtake the entire garden. It invades ground covers, rock walls, paths, and doesn't seem to care whether there's shade or sun. Here it is infiltrating the myrtle...
I do try to keep it in check, but it's a never ending battle. I pull out enough to give the host plants some breathing room, but it will invariably come back. Usually after about the fourth time Mr. Mulch hears me swearing and yanking at it, he reminds me of its one true virtue: that when it matures, it "covers up a lot of sins." It hides the leaves I didn't get last fall, the weeds I didn't get this spring, and that bare spot where I meant to plant something but just forgot.
Fully mature ferns covering up a multitude of sins -- no weeds or leaves visible!
With that reminder, I find it in my heart to negotiate an uneasy truce. That lasts almost until it advances on the anemones in the fall!