Lygodium japonicum, the fern in question. Doug Goldman. USDA Sex exists because it's evolutionarily useful—it makes it easier for a population to share genetic novelties and dilute out harmful mutations. But it's also subject to all sorts of additional evolutionary constraints, from the amount of resources devoted to offspring to the challenge of ensuring that a population ends up with a useful ratio of male and female individuals. A paper in today's issue of Science suggests that some species of fern have evolved a rather novel solution to creating a good balance between the sexes: they discuss it as a community, with the discussion taking place via chemical signals.