Scientific name: Pteridium aquilinum
Family: DENNSTAEDTIACEAE
Common names: “Bracken fern” “Eagle fern” “pasture brake” “fern of God” “adder’s spit”
Plant Type: Deciduous perennial fern
Conditions:
Zone: 3-10
Light: Full sun – part shade
Exposure: Sheltered
Soil: Sandy peaty acidic, grows well in poor soils
Moisture: Moist-wet, drought tolerant once established
Aesthetic:
Plant Size: H 3-4′ W 3-5′
Leaf and Stem shape: new fiddleheads emerging from the ground in spring, growing into large pinnately compound fronds with small spore dots on the leaflet undersides called sori
Maintenance: Low – zero, fronds die back on their own in the winter, can be cut back, can be divided anytime
Landscape use: Typically not planted, native plant garden, informal woodland, difficult areas
Propagate: By spores and rhizome division
Pests & Disease: None
Comments: BC native, fiddleheads and rhizomes used as a food source by first nations, some studies have suggested bracken fiddleheads to cause cancer but evidence is not conclusive, there are 12 varieties in 2 subspecies, the ferns grow all around the world
