Fiddlehead

Andy's Northern Ontario Wildflowers - Ferns, Allies and Liverworts

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Illustrated on this page are some northern Ontario ferns. Ferns are among the more easily recognized plants. Most species have leaves or fronds that are subdivided into many smaller leaflets. Many ferns grow in cool, shady forests. In the Sudbury area, the habitats that support ferns include: wetlands dry rocky talus or dry area in full sun shady forest floor Ferns are among the oldest living land plants. The geological record indicates that ferns have grown on Earth for at least 400 million years. Ferns do not reproduce by shedding seeds from the green leaves. Ferns reproduce by producing many tiny spores, each of which can give rise to a small (often 5 mm or less) independent plants. Some ferns reproduce by spore and by producing rhizomes. Oak fern, some Maidenhair ferns, and Bracken grow rhizomes. Rhizomes allow the plant to form sizeable colonies. Like all plants, ferns produce oxygen and collect carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide food and shelter for other organisms. Ferns also produce soil and reduce soil erosion, creating an ecosystem for other plants to grow. Some ferns, like the Ostrich fern, are harvested as food. Ostrich fern “fiddleheads” are the tightly coiled new shoots. many people eat fiddleheads as a salad. The rhizomes of the Bracken fern are harvested to use their long fibres and as food. More than 75 species of fern occur in Ontario. Click here for more habitat information: List of common ferns Southern ground cedar (Diphasiastrum digitatum) Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) Interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana) Oak fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris) Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) Northern Beech-fern (Phegopteris connectilis) Common polypody (Polypodium virginianum) Crested woodfern (Dryopteris cristata) Royal fern (Osmunda regalis) Maidenhead Spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes) List of Liverworts Common liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha)

	Southern ground cedar Height: 3-40 cm Leaves: Resemble cedar leaves. Fruiting structure: Illustrated in photo; cylindrical spore-bearing cones, 1-3 cm long; stalk is simple or may be forked, 3-6 cm long. Habitat: Dry to moist sandy to silty areas in coniferous and mixed forests. Location: Burwash Date: April 2, 2000.   Return to List
Southern ground cedar growing in juniper moss. Location: Burwash Date: April 2, 2000.   Return to List
	Sensitive fern Height: 50-70 cm Leaves: Compound, once-divided, pinnate; sterile leaves have 5-11 pairs of deeply cut, lance-shaped leaflets 3-15 cm long and 1-5 cm wide, wavy margins. Fruiting Structure: Dark brown, spore-bearing, less 40 cm long, lance-shaped to oblong. Habitat: Wet ground in woods, shore, ditches. Other: The fertile leaves persist into winter.  The Sensitive Fern has been linked to poisoning of animals. Location: Burwash Date: May 29,2005 Return to List
Sensitive fern fertile leaves. The brown fertile leaves persist into the winter. Location Burwash Date: May 13, 2000 Return to List
	Ostrich fern Leaves: Clustered, arching; sterile leaves are ostrich-plume-shaped; oblong to lance-shaped, widest near top and narrow towards base; up to 1.5 m long and 12-40 cm wide; widest in upper half; green-coloured; more than 40 pairs of leaflets that are cut into up to 30 or more pairs of oblong lobes with lowest pair clasping stalk. Height: Up to 2 m Fruiting Structure: Fertile leaves divided once, erect, 20-60 cm tall, green but turning brown with spore clusters on underside of leaflets; margins fold over spore clusters. Habitat: Moist, rich soil in deciduous and mixed forest, along streams and riverbanks. Interest: Fiddleheads represent the unfurled fern. Fiddleheads are harvested in the spring before the young fronds start to unfurl.  They are cooked like a vegetable. Location: Burwash Date: June 2, 2002 Return to List
Ostrich fern "fiddleheads". These new growths in the spring are eaten as a salad by many people. Location: Burwash Date: May 7, 2006. Return to List	Ostrich fern with dark-coloured fruiting structures at base, growing in a wet hardwood forest. Location: Burwash Date: June 2, 2002. Return to List
	Interrupted fern Leaves: Clustered, erect, spreading from a central area; oblong; widest near middle; tapered to tip and base; wooly when young; the fertile leaves or fronds are "interrupted" in the middle by the small fertile leaflets. Height: Up to 1 m Fruiting Structure: Fertile leaves are usually on the inner parts of the clump; erect, taller than sterile leaves; two to four pairs of fertile leaflets near the middle and "interrupt" the frond; blackish with dense dark clusters of spore cases. Habitat: Moist soil in deciduous and mixed forest, wet forest edges, swamps, and edges of ditches and streams. Location: South of Killarney Highway. Date: May 26, 2012. Return to List
Interrupted fern fertile leaves. Note dark colour of the spore clusters that occur in the middle of each frond. Location: Burwash Date: June 2, 2002 Return to List	Interrupted fern fertile leaves. Note dark colour of the spore clusters that occur in the middle of each frond. Location: Burwash Date: May 27, 2000 Return to List
Oak fern Height: Less than 35 cm Leaves: Single, triangular, lacy, yellowish-green; up to 18 cm long and 25 cm wide; compound, divided 2 to 3 times. Fruiting structure: Small circular spore clusters near margin on underside of leaflets. Habitat: Wet organic areas in coniferous and deciduous forest swamps. Location: Burwash Date: June 14, 2003 Return to List
	Bracken fern; also known as Bracken, Brake, Pasture-brake; perennial. Never has flowers or seeds. Stem: Bare, erect stem or leafstalk. Height: Up to 1 m Leaves: Single, triangular; 3 main divisions; up to 90 cm long and wide, compound, divided 2-3 times; leaflets are opposite, oblong, blunt tips; margins rolled over. Fruiting structure: Strips of spores clusters on edges of underside of leaves. Habitat: Often in large colonies on dry to moist, rocky to clayey, coniferous and deciduous forests, logged areas, power lines, roadsides. Note: May be poisonous to people and animals. Location: Burwash Date: June 22, 2002 Return to List
Bracken fern mass. Location: Burwash Date: June 22, 2002. Return to List	Bracken fern just starting to grow in the spring. Location: Burwash Date: May 25, 2002 Return to List
Northern Beech-fern Height: 40 cm. Leaves: Single, erect, narrowly triangular; 6-25 cm long, 4-15 cm wide; compound, once or twice divided into 10-25 pairs of opposite leaflets; lowest pair of leaflets bend sharply downward. Fruiting structure: Small circular spore clusters near margins on underside of leaflets. Habitat: Wet organic conifer and deciduous swamps or moist cedar - hardwood stands. Location: Killarney Date: August 26, 2007 Return to List
	Northern beech fern growing in a crack in a rock cut. Location: McVittie Dam Date: August 26, 2007 Return to List
	Common polypody Height: 8 - 30 cm. Leaves: Spreading, compound with 10-20 alternate leaflets; lance-shaped; square base, pointed tip; 5-25 cm long, 3-6 cm wide. Fruiting structure: Large dot-like reddish-brown spore clusters in 2 rows on underside of leaves. Habitat: Mats on dry rocky outcrops in deciduous and coniferous forests. Interest: In folklore, fern "seeds" or spores are said to bring on invisibility if gathered on Midsummer's Eve. Ferns are also said to be an herb of immortality. Burned outdoors, ferns produce rain. Source Location: Burwash Date: October 30, 2004 Return to List
Crested woodfern Form: Erect, perennial; in clusters. Height: Up to 80 cm. Leaves: Clustered, erect, compound, divided 2 times; sterile leaves are evergreen, yellow-green colour, 10-8- cm tall, 6-30 cm wide, lance-shaped, widest above the middle; 14-34 pairs of leaflets; leaflets are triangular to oblong and tend to tilt horizontally. Fruiting Structures: Spore clusters are dot-like on underside of upper leaflets. Habitat: Wet organic hardwood and conifer swamps. Location: Trout Lake Road and railroad, in hardwood swamp Date: July 23, 2001 Return to List
	Royal fern Form: In large crowns of leaves. Height: 0.6 - 1.8 m. Leaves: Clustered from central point, erect, egg-shaped; 30-130 cm long, 10-55 cm wide; twice divided with 5-7 pairs of opposite leaflets; leaflets are oval-shaped, short-stalked and up to 30 cm long and 15 cm wide; are 7-10 leaflets per side. Fruiting Structures: Brown, erect, spore-bearing leaflets with dense dark clusters of spore cases; occur in terminal clusters on sterile blades. Habitat: Wet shorelines of lakes and streams; wet ditches. Location: Elbow Lake, Sudbury. Date: August 3, 2001 Return to List
Maidenhair Spleenwort fern; evergreen; also known as Asplenium melanocaulon. Family: Aspleniaceae (Spleenwort ) Form: In large crowns of leaves. Height: fronds range up to 12 cm long. Leaves: Fronds spread from central point; dark stems; fertile and sterile fronds look alike; once-cut fronds; 15-40 elliptical pinnae on each side. Fruiting Structures: Spores occur on the undersides of the leaflets. Habitat: shaded limestone, moss-covered outcrops, hidden in cracks in limestone (called "grikes").  Prefers well-drained, moist, limy areas in partial sun. The plant requires shade and excellent drainage. Interest: The scientific name is derived as follows: Asplenium, from the Latin splen, "spleen" and trichomanes, the Greek name (tricomanes) for this fern derived from "hair of the head". Location: Manitoulin Island Date: July 26, 2006 Return to List
	Maidenhair Spleenwort fern growing in cracks formed in limestone pavement.  The cracks are called "grikes" and the blocks between are called "clints". Return to List
Common liverwort Form: Leaf-like growth along ground from which umbrella-shaped, tree-like stalking fruit grow. Colour: Pale- to dark-green Fruit bodies: Umbrella-shaped, tree-like shape; 5 mm tall. Habitat: Moist areas, such as wet rock, edges of standing water, pools, marsh. Location: Trout Lake Road and railroad Date: July 25, 2001 Return to List

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