[2] The use of "C-Fern" is facilitated by the fact that it grows readily in a cell-culture dish on agar media, reaching sexual maturity within 2–3 weeks of spore inoculation, with motile sperm cells being visible at this time.

Over the course of about 6 weeks germination, sex determination and development of gametophytes, fertilization, embryogenesis, organogenesis, and sporophyte growth can all be observed, allowing an incredibly comprehensive study of the life cycle of homosporous ferns in a relatively short time period.

Following the culture of "C-Fern" in dishes it can be transplanted to a dirt substrate, where it can be further allowed to grow and future generations can be used for subsequent studies.

Monilophytes are generally studied far less than other groups of plants and a full genome sequence is not yet available, however due to the development of "C-Fern" research into fern biology has been more prevalent and C. richardii has been used as a model organism to study vascular plant cell walls, alternation of generations (and associated mutations), genetics, population dynamics, and the effects of mitotic disrupter herbicides, among other topics.

[4][5][6] Despite being genetically identical the inoculated spores can give rise to both hermaphrodites and male gametophytes, depending on the secretion of antheridiogen; this phenomenon has been used to study plant pheromones and the cascade of events that leads to epigenetic changes in ferns.