Polystichum setiferum 'Plumoso-multilobum'

@Observing: In a way, all modern ferns are coming from a very old group of plants that were able to propagate without the help of insects. However, most ferns we see today are well advanced from these primeval times, while their basic reproduction steps are still following ancient rules. That Polystichum you can see on the photo is such a modern fern; the Osmunda I presented a few days ago is more primitive. (You can tell the primitive from the advanced ferns by examining their fertile fronds: if these are looking very different from the sterile fronds then this is regarded as "ancient".)
"Real" prehistoric plants that still grow today (or at least that didn't change their appearance in the last 200 million years) are very tiny (they include some mosses and the genus Selaginella) or are no ferns at all, as the Cycads are already seed plants but also direct successors of the very ancient (and extinct) group of seed ferns. Other quite old plants include the gymnosperms (mainly conifers), as Wollemia nobilis (I have one!) and the Araucariaceae - very beautiful plants with a unique appearance!

@MaryB: This is one of the most beautiful, I think. A fern with a "plumosum" in its name is always a pretty plant. :)

@Michael Skorulski: Thanks, Michael! Yes, this species is very beautiful. Some of them grow so dense they almost look like small conifers!

@Tracey: Thanks, but I don't know more than other people. I'm just interested in these plants, because since my childhood I'm intrigued by primitive times, Dinos, extinct species and the like. (You should have seen me rattling off Dino names like Brontosaurus excelsus or Diplodocus when I was six years old!)

@Observing: My pleasure! :-)

@Ina: Yes, a very showy fern. Thanks, Ina!

@Sérgio Martins: Sometimes things get more interesting when you know what you're looking at :) Thanks a lot!

@baba: Thanks, baba! Glad you like it!

@akarui: And that collection is still growing... :) Did my mention my interest in cycads, palms, and conifers...?

@Twelvebit: I know where I can find them :) But the more I'm using them the more I learn. The ferns I'm growing at home I can all call by name.

@Michael: Hier fing alles an.

@Eleftheria, 9 1/2,: Yes, me too! Thank you! :-)