Sensitive fern
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Onoclea sensibilis L.
Common name(s): sensitive fern, bead fern, sympathy fern
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
-
- fiddlehead, early May
-
- young fronds
-
- sterile fronds
Description:
– may be confused with the vegetative fronds of Woodwardia areolata; see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
– deciduous fern
-spreads by rhizomes and spores
-spores are not released until the next spring after the fronds are produced
Habitat:
-Rich, well drained, moist soils
-meadows and fields
-shores of rivers
-wetlands
Natural History:
-its name comes form its sensitivity to frost
Sources:
Go Botany. “Onoclea Sensibilis L.” Onoclea Sensibilis (Sensitive Fern): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/onoclea/sensibilis/.