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Ferns need humidity to be happy, especially indoors.

Here is a link that will help you.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/ferns-houseplants/growing-ferns-indoors.htm

Ferns turn brown when they are too dry or when they get too much sun.

Some ferns have sterile (green) leaves and produce central fertile leaves in summer. These may be brown, as in the case of the cinnamon fern. Forest ferns (and it is illegal to remove plants from government lands) must have consistent moisture and shade or they will dry out, turn brown and go dormant. You need to check the ID websites and find out which fern you have. There are thousands of them!

We did not receive an image.

Hello,

Thank you for sending us your gardening question. Although the foliage resembles a fern, this plant is not a fern, but a yarrow. Fortunately, it is not listed on the list of prohibited plants for your area, so you should be able to take some of it home with you.

Here are a couple of articles you might find helpful:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/yarrow/growing-yarrow.htm

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/agr/farm-products/plants/massachusetts-prohibited-plant-list.html

Please let us know if you have any other gardening questions and happy gardening!

Thanks
Gardening Know How

It sounds like you could be seeing fertile fronds, the reproductive structures of the plant, when in the past you have had mainly sterile fronds (the orderly looking ones). I am not sure if dividing the fern would increase the proportion of the orderly, sterile fronds, but it's worth a try. The smaller ferns after division may spend a few years storing up energy again before attempting to reproduce.