FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
This is a large fern. When fertile frond is present, it has a distinctive cinnamon color.
Synonym(s): Osmunda cinnamomea
Description: Medium to tall fern up to 1.5 m.
Leaves: Fronds rise singly from small clump at base. Blades 35 to 70 cm long and 13 to 25 cm wide. Pinnae are cut nearly to stem, mostly alternately arranged with brown, fuzzy "hairs" at bases of pinnae.
Flowers/Fruit: No flowers, but fertile fronds are narrower than infertile fronds and contain furry cinnamon-colored stalks. Fertile fronds appear March to May and soon wither.
Habit and Range: Swamps, marshes, ditches, streambanks. Common in the Coastal Plain and Mountains, but less frequent in the Piedmont.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Athyrium filix-femina (common ladyfern) has no hairs at base of its pinnae. Woodwardia virginica (Virginia chain fern) forms clumps and has chain-like venation along midrib of leaflets.
Click here to view Athyrium filix-femina.
Click here to view Woodwardia virginica.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
