How female ferns make younger neighbors male
Precocious dames and nearby laggards split the job of making a hormone
![Japanese climbing fern](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sm_lyja_006_php_free.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
BEHIND THE LEAVES The Japanese climbing fern in its spore-making form (shown) will create a new generation of specialized, chemically adept sexual offspring that can masculinize their neighbors.
Doug Goldman/NPDT/NRCS/USDA