Matteuccia struthiopteris – Native Gardens of Blue Hill

Etymology

Matteuccia honors Carlo Matteucci (1811-1863), a physicist at the University of Florence, Italy; struthiopteris is Latin, meaning like an ostrich wing.

Native Habitat

Moist, shady woodlands, wetlands, and floodplains.

Garden Uses

Mass in moist, shady woodland areas, wild gardens or wet areas near streams or ponds. Combine with astilbe, hosta, or Canada anemone in a perennial bed. Plant in conjunction with early spring wildflowers that will become dormant by the time these ferns reach full size. They spread by underground rhizomes and frequently the crown of the original plant will die out.

Overview

Ostrich ferns are distinctive vase shaped ferns with two distinct forms of frond – the deciduous fronds and the persistent fertile fronds. They form clumps and spread by underground rhizomes to form dense colonies. The fronds emerge in spring from the narrow base as the familiar and edible “fiddleheads.”

Leaves and Stems

The showy parts of this fern are the finely dissected, medium green, vegetative (sterile) fronds which exhibit the feathery appearance of long ostrich plumes. These fronds begin to deteriorate during late summer, will lose their leaflets in fall and go dormant in the winter. The fronds are tapered at both the base and the apex. The leaf blades emerge arranged singly from the crown of the plant. The shorter fertile fronds arise from the center of the crown in mid-summer and persist through the winter. These fronds are initially green but turn dark brown in the winter. The pinnae (leaflets) are turned in to form a beaded plume on the fertile frond that remains attractive throughout the winter.

Flowers

Ferns do not have flowers and fruit - they reproduce by spores.

Fruit/Seed

Spores develop on the fertile frond July - September.

Animal Associates

The ostrich fern borer moth uses the ostrich fern as its only foodplant. These ferns also act as shelter and cover for wildlife and provide bird nesting materials.