Word: fern
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Since they first arrived, fern studies have progressed in quantum leaps, and scientists have learned that the innocent-looking plant is not as harmless as it appears...
...example, recent studies have determined that one type of fern, bracken, a popular Japanese food, may cause stomach cancer...
Moreover, bracken has in several global regions devastated croplands and pastures, thereby endangering livestock that eat the fern. Yet even weed killing sprays can not eliminate the stubborn plant, and in Scotland alone, the bracken has monopolized more than 400,000 acres of cleared land...
...oilmen, they mean hefty savings in exploration costs, since fern fossils will indicate at what depths oil is likely to be found. Fern spores, very common in fossil records, are used to date the age of rocks below the earth's surface. Since scientists know that rocks of a certain age-or depth-are more likely to contain oil than others, fern-spore dating can help them decide whether to drill deeper to find...
Since a higher grade coal will contain different fern spores than a lower grade coal, identifying the type of spore will indicate to coalmen the quality of their deposit...