Matteuccia struthiopteris

Ostrich Fern

Ostrich Fern
Photo courtesy Wisconsin State Herbarium and Robert W. Freckmann

Flora, fauna, earth, and sky...
The natural history of the northwoods

Name:

• Matteuccia, named in honor of Carlo Matteucci (1800-1868), an Italian physicist.
• struthiopteris, from the Greek, strouqeios (stroutheios), "of an ostrich", and pteris (pteris), "fern"
• Common Name, from the resemblance of the fronds to the plumes of the large flightless bird of Africa.
• Other common names include Fiddlehead Fern, Garden Fern, Hardy Fern, Fougère-à-l'autruche (Qué), Strutbräken, Foderbräken (Swe), Strutsveng (Nor), Strudsvinge (Dan), Kotkansiipi (Fin), Straußfarn (Ger), Matteuccia (It), Struccpáfrány (Hun), Pióropusznik strusi (Pol)

Taxonomy:

• Kingdom Plantae, the Plants
• Division Polypodiophyta, the True Ferns
• Class Filicopsida
• Order Polypodiales
• Family Dryopteridaceae
• Genus Matteuccia
• Taxonomic Serial Number: 17596
• Also known as Matteuccia pensylvanica, Matteuccia struthiopteris var. pensylvanica, Matteuccia struthiopteris var. pubescens, Onoclea struthiopteris, Onoclea struthiopteris var. pensylvanica, Pteretis nodulosa, Pteretis pensylvanica

Description:

• A large, feathery, deciduous fern, 3'-5' tall.
• Sterile Frond large, green, oblanceolate, up to 60" long, 12" wide, forming symmetrical, vaselike cluster.
  • Petiole (leaf stalk) black, to 12", flattened at base, becoming deeply grooved, scales pale orange-brown.
  • Pinnae (primary leaflets) linear, 20-60 per side, the longest near the tip, gradually decreasing in length toward base; leaflets further subdivided into 20-40 segments.
• Fertile Frond dense and rigid, arising from the center of the clump in mid to late summer, persisting through winter; green maturing to dark brown.
  • Petiole (leaf stalk) 3"-8", with scaly base.
  • Blade lyre-shaped, oblong to oblanceolate, 6"-16"× 1"-2½".
  • Pinnae (primary leaflets) linear, 30-45 per side, 1¼"-2¼" long, rolled inward to clasp spores, forming hard "pod".
• Stem stout, green, covered with white hairs.
• Rhizome large, with a braided appearance.
• Roots black and wiry.
• As with Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis), forms intermediate between sterile fronds and fertile fronds are sometimes found.

Identification:

• Distinguished from other large ferns by the distinctive fertile frond, when present. In the absence of the spore-bearing structure, the twice-cut sterile fronds with white hairs on the stems mark this species.
• Field Marks
  • large size
  • distinctive fertile frond, utterly unlike sterile fronds
  • twice-cut sterile fronds, broad near tip and tapering gradually to base
  • fine white hairs on stem

Distribution:

• Alaska to Newfoundland, south to British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia.
• Also Scandinavia, Central Europe, Russia, and Asia; introduced into Ireland and Great Britain from the continent.

Habitat:

• Moist soil in deciduous and mixed forest, wooded river bottoms, and swamps.
• Often in alluvial or mucky swamp soils.

Fire:

Associates:

• Trees: Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera), Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)

History:

• The edible fiddlehead is the state vegetable of Vermont.

Uses:

• The most commonly sold species of generic garden fern.
• Grown commercially for the decorative fronds.
• Fiddleheads (young coiled sterile fronds) are considered a delicacy. Collected in early spring, they support a local canning industry in New England and adjacent Canada. For more information on preparation of fiddleheads, see University of Maine Extension Bulletin #4198

Reproduction:

• Reproduces by spores and vegetatively by rhizomes
• Fertile fronds produced after vegetative fronds and persist throughout the following winter. Spores shed mid-winter.

Propagation:

• Division most successful method. Best transplanted when dormant in early spring or fall but can, with care, survive transplantation at any time.
• Can be grown from spores with sufficient patience.

Cultivation:

• An elegant, robust garden fern for moist, shaded sites. Very easy; low maintenance.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 3 (average minimum annual temperature -40ºF)
• Cultural Requirements
• Light to full shade. Will yellow and burn in hot sun.
• Soil highly organic, moist to swampy or boggy, slightly acid (pH of 5-6.5). Does well in ordinary garden loam or clay, however.
• Consistent moisture; should not be allowed to dry out between waterings. The greater the sun exposure, the greater the moisture requirement.
• Spacing: 24"-36"
• Fertilization unnecessary
• Size 24"W x 36"-60"H, the more sun and moisture, the larger the plant.
• Growth rate moderate. However, under good conditions tends to spread aggressively by stout rhizomes. Excercise caution near smaller, less robust plants.
• Good for foliage backdrop, foundation plantings, naturalizing.
• Readily available by mail order or at local nurseries

Links:

• Den Virtuella Floran, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm

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