''Matteuccia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s with one species: ''Matteuccia struthiopteris'' (

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s ostrich fern, fiddlehead fern, or shuttlecock fern). The species epithet ''struthiopteris'' comes from Ancient Greek words () "ostrich" and () "fern".

Description

The

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

s are dimorphic, with the

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

green sterile fronds being almost vertical, tall and broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the tip, so that they resemble

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

plumes, hence the name. The fertile fronds are shorter, long, brown when ripe, with highly modified and constricted leaf tissue curled over the

sporangia A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

; they develop in autumn, persist erect over the winter and release the

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s in early spring. Along with '' Dryopteris goldieana'', it is one of the largest species of fern in eastern North America.

Classification

''Matteuccia struthiopteris'' is the only species in the genus ''Matteuccia''. Some sources include two Asian species, ''M. orientalis'' and ''M. intermedia'', but molecular data shows that ''M. struthiopteris'' is more closely related to '' Onocleopsis'' and '' Onoclea'' (sensitive fern) than it is to ''M. orientalis'' and ''M. intermedia'', and so the latter should be moved to a genus '' Pentarhizidium'' which contains those two species. Formerly classified as a member of the

Dryopteridaceae The Dryopteridaceae are a Family (biology), family of leptosporangiate ferns in the Order (biology), order Polypodiales. They are known Common name, colloquially as the wood ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG&n ...

, ''Matteuccia'' has been reassigned to the new much smaller family

Onocleaceae Onocleaceae is a small family of terrestrial ferns in the order Polypodiales. It is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). Alternatively, the family, along with Blechnaceae, may be ...

Distribution

It is a crown-forming, colony-forming plant, occurring in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in central and northern Europe, northern Asia, and northern North America. It grows from a completely vertical crown, favoring riverbanks and sandbars, but sends out lateral

stolon In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...

s to form new crowns. It can thus form dense colonies resistant to destruction by floodwaters.

Cultivation and uses

Fiddlehead sprouts as food in Tokyo area march 9 2020

The ostrich fern is a popular

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

in gardens. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. While choosing a place of planting it should be taken into account that this fern is very expansive and its leaves often lose their beauty throughout the summer, especially if not protected from wind and hail. The tightly wound immature fronds, called fiddleheads, are also used as a cooked vegetable, and are considered a delicacy mainly in rural areas of northeastern North America. It is considered inadvisable to eat uncooked fiddleheads. Brown "scales" are inedible and should be scraped or rinsed off. The sprouts are also picked all over Japan, ("kogomi" in Japanese) as well as in other Asian regions, where they are considered a delicacy. Additionally, in Norway, fiddleheads were apparently used in the manufacture of beer, and in Russia, in the control of gut parasites. ''Matteuccia'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species including '' Sthenopis pretiosus.''

Fungal host

Its base hosts the mushroom '' Woldmaria filiformis'', which is uniquely linked with this species of fern.

References

Sources

* Hyde, H. A., Wade, A. E., & Harrison, S. G. (1978). ''Welsh Ferns''. National Museum of Wales. {{Taxonbar, from1=Q1130386, from2=Q304969 Polypodiales Ferns of Asia Ferns of the Americas Ferns of Europe Ferns of the United States Flora of Asia Flora of Europe Flora of Northern America Leaf vegetables Perennial vegetables Japanese vegetables Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Europe Garden plants of North America Monotypic fern genera