ostrich fern

(Matteuccia struthiopteris var. pensylvanica)

Conservation Status
ostrich fern
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACW - Facultative wetland

     
  Midwest

FACW - Facultative wetland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FAC - Facultative

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Ostrich fern is a large, 12 to 60 tall, erect, perennial fern that rises from the above-ground crown of a vertical rhizome. The vertical rhizome produces numerous long-creeping, black, horizontal, underground runners (stolons) which root and give rise to new vertical rhizomes, producing new, genetically identical plants.

Each plant produces two types of leaves (fronds), a dense spiral of several green, sterile fronds, with 1 or a few brown, fertile fronds in the center. The smaller fertile fronds are sometimes hidden by the larger sterile fronds. Less robust or unhealthy plants may not produce fertile fronds.

The sterile frond is erect and arching. The leaf stem (stipe) is dark brown or black, stout, and 1¾ to 18 long. It is much shorter than the leafy portion (blade), about 1 10 to 1 5 as long. It is flattened at the base and becomes deeply grooved above the middle. It is sparsely covered with pale orangish-brown scales. It is deciduous and dies with the onset of winter.

The blades of the sterile fronds are inversely lance-shaped to inversely egg-shaped in outline, 12 to 50 long, and 4¾ to 10 wide. They are widest above the middle, taper quickly to the tip, and taper very gradually to the base. The overall appearance is similar to an ostrich feather, hence the common name. The blades are pinnately divided into 20 to 60 pairs of leaflets (pinnae). The central axis of the blade (rachis) is covered with white hairs.

The pinnae are alternate, spreading, and linear. The longest pinnae are 2½ to 5¼ long, becoming shorter as they approach the base. The lowest pinnae are much shorter, as little as long. The pinnae do not have a tuft of cinnamon-brown hairs at the base. They are deeply, pinnately lobed, with 20 to 40 lobes per side. The upper surface is medium green and hairless. The lower surface is paler green and hairless.

The lobes of the pinnae are alternate to almost opposite, broadly oblong, squared off at the base, and rounded at the tip. The veins visible on the underside of each lobe extend straight to the margin and are not forked. The margins of the lobes are untoothed and unlobed.

The fertile fronds are distinctive and unlike the sterile fronds. They appear on long stalks from July to October. When they appear they are 10 to 25½ long, and 1 to 2½ wide, shorter than the sterile fronds. There are 30 to 45 greenish pinnae per side. The pinnae are to 2 long, linear, and shallowly lobed. The lobes of the pinnae are curled tightly around the sori forming small bead-like structures. When they mature the fertile fronds turn dark brown. They persist through the following winter and release their spores in March and April.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

12 to 60

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

The above-ground, black, knob-like portion of the vertical rhizome, from which all fronds rise, the long-tapering blade, and the very short pinnae near the base of the blade are distinctive features of this plant.

Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) does not rise from a black, knob-like crown. There is a small tuft of cinnamon brown hairs where the base of each pinna attaches to the rachis. The veins on the underside of the pinnae lobes are forked 1 to 3 times.

Interrupted Fern (Claytosmunda claytoniana) does not produce separate fertile fronds, the fertile pinnae being produced in the middle of otherwise sterile leaves. The veins on the underside of the pinnae lobes are forked once.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Swamps, floodplain forests, rich woods, streambanks.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Sporulation

 
 

March to April

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 28, 29, 30.

 
  3/24/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Polypodiophytina  
  Class Polypodiopsida (ferns)  
  Subclass Polypodiidae (leptosporangiate ferns)  
 

Order

Polypodiales  
  Suborder Aspleniinae (eupolypods II)  
 

Family

Onocleaceae (sensitive ferns and allies)  
 

Genus

Matteuccia (ostrich ferns)  
  Species Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern)  
       
 

Ostrich fern is the only species in the genus Matteuccia.

 
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Matteuccia pensylvanica

Matteuccia struthiopteris var. pubescens

Onoclea struthiopteris

Onoclea struthiopteris var. pensylvanica

Pteretis nodulosa

Pteretis pensylvanica

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

fiddlehead fern

garden fern

hardy fern

ostrich fern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Frond

A large leaf with many divisions: in ferns, the compound leaf, including the stipe and the blade; in mosses, a closely and regularly branched stem resembling a fern leaf; in lichens, a stalkless, leaf-like extension.

 

Linear

Long, straight, and narrow, with more or less parallel sides, like a blade of grass.

 

Pinna

The primary division of a compound leaf or fern frond.

 

Pinnate

On a compound leaf, having the leaflets arranged on opposite sides of a common stalk. On a bryophyte, having branches evenly arranged on opposite sides of a stem.

 

Rachis

The main axis of a compound leaf, appearing as an extension of the leaf stalk; the main axis of an inflorescence.

 

Rhizome

A horizontal, usually underground stem. It serves as a reproductive structure, producing roots below and shoots above at the nodes.

 

Sorus

A compact cluster of spore-bearing cases or sacs (sporangia) on a fern.

 

Sporangium

A spore bearing structure, as of a fern or moss.

 

Stipe

A supporting stalk-like structure lacking vascular tissue: in fungi, the stalk supporting the mushroom cap; in ferns, the stalk connecting the blade to the rhizome; in flowering plants, the stalk connecting the flower’s ovary to the receptacle; in orchids; the band connecting the pollina with the viscidium.

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

Share your photo of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.
 
 

 

 
 

 

 
           
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Plant

 
    ostrich fern   ostrich fern  
           
    ostrich fern   ostrich fern  
           
 

Sterile Frond

 
    ostrich fern      
           
 

Fertile Frond

 
    ostrich fern   ostrich fern  
           
    ostrich fern      
           
 

Pinnae

 
    ostrich fern      

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
  Matteuccia struthiopteris
Susanne Wiik
 
  Matteuccia struthiopteris  
 
About

Strutseving
Ostrich fern

 
  Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
Andree Reno Sanborn
 
  Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)  

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

Share your video of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.
 
 

 

 
     
     
       
       
 
Other Videos
 
  F07 Matteuccia Struthyopteris Séquence 7-Fougères 1.m4v
Jean Désorcy
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jan 10, 2010

La Matteuccie du printemps à l'automne. Ostrich Fern from spring to fall. Helecho Matteuccia Struthiopteris de la primavera hasta el otoño.

   
  Matteuccia struthiopteris
wander van laar
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 22, 2014

No description available.

   
  Ostrich Fern
woodswoman783
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on May 1, 2010

The fiddlehead of the ostrich fern is one of the best tasting of the wild edibles and one of the easiest ferns to ID. Fry it up in a little butter with wild leeks and/or morrel mushrooms and you have a wonderful side dish or an entire meal in the wild

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
   

 

   
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

Afton State Park

Baker Park Reserve

Banning State Park

Big Woods Heritage Forest WMA

Blaine Preserve SNA

Blaine Wetland Sanctuary

Brownsville Bluff SNA

Camden State Park

Cannon River Wilderness Area

Chamberlain Woods SNA

Charles A. Lindbergh State Park

Chimney Rock SNA

Cleary Lake Regional Park

Crow Wing State Park

Crystal Spring SNA

Elm Creek Park Reserve

Falls Creek SNA

Flandrau State Park

Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park

Fort Ridgely State Park

Franconia Bluffs SNA

Greenwater Lake SNA

Grey Cloud Dunes SNA

Hastings SNA

Hayes Lake State Park

Hemlock Ravine SNA

Itasca State Park

Jay Cooke State Park

John Peter Hoffman Spring Brook Valley WMA

La Salle Lake SNA

Laible Woods

Lake Alexander Woods SNA, South Unit

Lake Bemidji State Park

Lake Maria State Park

Lawrence Creek SNA

Lebanon Hills Regional Park

Lutsen SNA

Maplewood State Park

Mille Lacs Kathio State Park

Mille Lacs Moraine SNA

Mille Lacs WMA

Minneopa State Park

Minnesota Valley NWR, Chaska Unit

Mississippi River County Park

Moose Lake State Park

Mound Prairie SNA

Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve

Myhr Creek Ridge SNA

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

Old Mill State Park

Oronoco Prairie SNA

Oxbow Park & Zollman Zoo

Partch Woods SNA

Paul Bunyan Savanna

Prairie Smoke Dunes SNA

Quarry Park SNA

Ripley Esker SNA

Ritter Farm Park

Robert Ney Memorial Park Reserve

Rockville County Park

St. Croix Savanna SNA

St. Croix State Park

Sakatah Lake State Park

Sand Prairie Wildlife Management and Environmental Education Area

Savage Fen SNA

Savanna Portage State Park

Scenic State Park

Schoolcraft State Park

Seminary Fen SNA

Seven Mile Creek County Park

Sibley State Park

Spring Creek Prairie SNA

Springbrook Nature Center

Sunfish Lake Park

Tamarack Nature Center

Twin Lakes SNA

Westwood Hills Nature Center

Whitewater State Park

Wild River State Park

Wood-Rill SNA

Woodbury WMA

Woodland Trails Park

 

 

 

Binoculars


Last Updated:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | © MinnesotaSeasons.com.com. All rights reserved.