One of the most important innovations in land plant evolution is the development of a primary vascular system. This novel innovation led to a surge in plant size and subsequently many ecological modifications. In no other clade of plants is the diversity of vascular morphology greater than in the fern lineage and for this reason, studying the evolution and functionality of primary vasculature in ferns will ultimately throw light on our understanding of the evolution of vascular plants as a whole. In the Friedman Lab, I study how the diversity of vascular arrangements in fern rhizomes (stems) has evolved throughout geologic time and how these arrangements affect the movement of water through the stem