Ostrich Fern is a common species that is native from Virginia way up to the Artic Circle and to northern Eurasia in swamps and moist open woods. It is commonly sold by many garden centers and commonly found in northern landscapes. It has bright green, soft, thin textured sterile fronds to about 5 feet long that are widest towards the top and tapering at the base. It also has shorter, stiff, fertile fronds that hold the sori (spore producing structures) that stay upright and brown into the winter. It needs soil that is constantly moist or wet to keep from having the fronds becoming tattered and browned in late summer. Most every year at my parent's home in northeast Illinois, the Ostrich Ferns I planted at the base of some shrubs would become browned, tattered, and falling down in late summer when it was normally dry. This species does spread a lot and quickly by its rhizomes (underground stems).

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Not sure of variety. Mine are about 2 1/2 ft. tall, spread readily.

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These can be found growing in moist, rich soil.

When the new fronds are roughly 2 inches tall they can be harvested (just take 2 out of every 5 emerging heads) and boiled (after rinsing and removing the brown husk). They are also delicious sauteed in butter.

They can also be eaten raw as a snack or in salads.

Note: never eat any wild plant unless you are 100 % certain of its identity.

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A fern of northeastern swamps and wooded river bottoms in alkaline soils, Ostrich Fern forms large colonies of big, erect, vase-shaped clumps sometimes reaching 6 feet in height. In cultivation, however, expect moderate spreading and half that height. Individual fronds are plume-like and widest above the middle and they form bold, v-shaped clumps. While the sterile fronds (the more numerous leaves) are deciduous and die to the ground for the winter, the fertile leaves remain as short, dark, compact, woody fronds. In the spring, you may enjoy eating the fiddleheads of the Ostrich Fern which taste something like asparagus. (Sunlight Gardens)

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