''Oxalis hedysaroides'', known as the fire fern, is not a

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

but a

flowering Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

native throughout Colombia and Ecuador. It is a member of the woodsorrel

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

(''Oxalis'') that grows to 30 cm height and 10 cm spread. The plant gets its common name from the fact that its leaves, while starting green, turn a deep purple red with exposure to sun. ''Oxalis hedysaroides'' is a very mobile plant and will rotate its foliage significantly to follow the sun. At dusk, the plant can seem to quiver slightly as the red leaves partially close by folding in half. The foliage of the fire fern is supported by branched wiry purple stems, and the plant produces small yellow flowers when in bloom.

References

hedysaroides {{Oxalidales-stub