Interrupted fern
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Osmunda claytoniana L.
Common name(s): interrupted fern
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- fiddleheads, early May
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- wooded edge of a blueberry field
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- early June
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- fertile fronds
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- sterile frond detail
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- no hairs at base of leaflets distinguish it from cinnamon fern
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- fertile frond detail, early June
Description:
– perennial
-Reproduces by spores and creeping rootstocks
-leaves are
- 2′-6′ long
- covered with densely matted wool-like hairs when young
- leaf blades oblong to lance-shaped 1′-4′ long
-Spores borne on non-leafy stalks, mid-way up interrupting leaf blade, greenish at first, becoming dark brown and brittle with age
– may be confused with Osmundastrum cinnamomeum; see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-forests
-wetlands
-shores of rivers
Natural History:
-named after the distinct interruptions present in the center of many fronds
-Ferns became popular indoor plants during the Victorian Era
Sources:
Go Botany. “Osmunda Claytoniana L.” Osmunda Claytoniana (Interrupted Fern): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/osmunda/claytoniana/.