Cinnamon fern
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Osmunda cinnamomea L. – reclassified as Osmundastrum cinnamomeum (L.) C. Presl
Common name(s): cinnamon fern
Link(s): 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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- fertile fronds, separate from sterile fronds
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- tufts of hair at base of leaflets distinguish it from O. claytoniana
Description:
– perennial
-Osmundaceae family
-can grow up to 2 feet
– may be confused with Osmunda claytoniana; see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-moist soils
-shade to part sun
-woods and thickets
-acidic soils
-organic soils
Natural History:
-young unexpanded fronds are edible
-the root can be used medically
-Ferns first appear in the fossil record about 360 million years ago in the middle Devonian period
-Ferns are native to every part of North America
Sources:
Plants for a Future. “Osmunda Cinnamomea – L.” Pfaf Plant Search, 2021, pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Osmunda%2Bcinnamomea.
Rutgers, the State University of NJ. “Crop Vignette: Ferns.” IR4 Project, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2021, www.ir4project.org/ehc/crop-vignette/crop-vignette-ferns/.