Wildlife Enhancement on Prince Edward Island
Three fine ferns

Ostrich fern.

This is the true fiddlehead fern, though in early spring most fern fronds resemble the head of a fiddle. Considered a delicacy and heavily harvested as a cooking vegetable in New Brunswick, fiddlehead collecting has far less history on Prince Edward Island.

One of our most beautiful ferns, the large, lush ostrich fern grows from a fibrous clump that gets larger every year. The sterile fern fronds emerge as tightly curled fiddleheads, deep green with a brown, papery covering. The rich green and the shiny brown covering, combined with the large clump, offer easy identification in the spring. Spores of the Ostrich fern are born on a separate, dark brown frond. Only the sensitive fern has a similar-coloured spore frond, though the shapes are quite different. The fully developed fronds, from 90-120 cm (3-5') high, taper very quickly at the tip and quite slowly at the base, making them appear top heavy.

In ideal conditions along shaded streams, ostrich ferns form thick mats. They thrive in moist flood plains with the coolness and high humidity associated with canopied streams.

While these ferns can be grown from spores, the easiest way is to find some that are growing in a wet ditch or a property where you have permission from the owner to dig. In early May, on a wet day when the plants are just starting to poke out their fiddleheads, transplant a few to pots. Be patient and always be thinking about how you are treating the site from where you're digging. One of the most important things about ostrich fern propagation is that they spread by rhizomes, so that if you plant one, in a few years it will multiply. Then you can just keep moving the younger plants and soon you'll have as many as you need.

While some ferns such as the bracken fern produce toxic fiddleheads, the ostrich fern is a culinary delight. As the stems begin to elongate and the fiddleheads are still tightly closed, use a sharp knife to cut off a few individual fronds from plants. It is best to keep the cut heads cool. To remove the husks, soak the heads in a spaghetti pot with strainer or some combination of strainer and pot. Gently rub the husks off with your hands and rinse fiddleheads until clean. To cook, boil for 10 minutes or steam for 20 minutes and eat as is or with butter and lemon. There are unconfirmed reports of people getting ill from eating raw or undercooked fiddleheads. The University of Maine has an excellent web page on fiddleheads, including lots of recipes.

Planting along streams is a good idea if proper conditions exist. Ostrich ferns appreciate high humidity and will do well in a flood plain with a high canopy of trees. They seem intolerant of dry conditions if there is any competition, such as from grasses, but grow well if mulched to keep down other competitors for scarce moisture. Scatter them throughout an area - if conditions are right, they will soon spread.

Cinnamon fern.

The cinnamon fern is another fern that rises out of a woody clump. Like the ostrich fern, it has a separate spore frond, but in the cinnamon fern the frond is a light brown and is much less woody. The sterile fronds are a much paler green than the ostrich fern, with a furry, light brown covering. Mature fronds are from 90-120 cm (3-5').

Like the ostrich fern, this fern is quite easy to transplant from the wild. Make sure that you have permission from a landowner to dig just a few plants from an area that has plenty. They will spread, especially as the plants mature. Dig in early spring just as the tightly-curled fronds are showing. When transplanting, either to the woods or to your home, make sure to give them lots of space. Mature plants will need to be at least 90 cm (3') apart.

The cinnamon fern is an excellent choice for either woodlands or around homes. This is a fern of mixed woodlands, thriving in rich, moist soil. Fortunately, it tolerates other conditions. As long as the soil is rich and the plants are well-mulched, cinnamon ferns do well in most protected conditions. That means not at the edge of an open field, getting full sun and wind blown, though dry conditions in partial shade seem to be just fine.

Interrupted fern.

During early spring growth, it is difficult to distinguish the interrupted fern from the cinnamon fern unless there are fronds left over from the previous year. Both have woody bases and large, pale green fronds. It is one of the earliest ferns to emerge in the spring, arising from a white, cottony ball that was formed the previous fall. As the plant grows, the fertile leaflets appear in the middle of the frond (giving the plant its "interrupted" name). Once the spores mature, the fertile parts wither and fall off, leaving an empty area in the middle of each frond.

Like all the ferns, interrupted ferns can be grown from spores, but it is much easier to transplant them, using the same cautions as described for previous ferns. Neither the interrupted nor the cinnamon spread as rapidly as the ostrich fern, but as a plant matures and dies out, a circle of young ones have usually grown up around it. Some of these offspring can be carefully removed.

This fern can often be seen growing with the cinnamon fern. It tolerates much the same conditions, preferring shaded woodlands with moist, rich soil. The interrupted fern does not establish itself quickly, so if habitat is destroyed, it will be slow to return. That's why some judicious transplanting can be useful to help it return to an area.

Cobb, Boughton, A Field Guide to the Ferns. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA. 1963.

Foster, F. Gordon, Ferns to Know and Grow. Timber Press, Portland OR, 1993.

Perl, Phillip, Ferns. Time-Life Books, Alexandria, VA, 1977.

The Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project, a member of the Island Sustainable Forest Partnership Cooperative with assistance from Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian Forest Service and the Model Forest Program have put together this series of information sheets concerning Wildlife Enhancement on Prince Edward Island. Thanks to Beth Hoar from GreenThumb Photography. Web development and maintenance by Chris Martin.