Exposure/Location: Shade/part shade, sun if moist.  Forests, ponds swamps, stream sides, moist meadows, fields.

Height/Spread: 45-90cm (1.5-3ft) Can spread quickly by rhizome if in an ideal location.

Bloom: Fertile frond stays standing in winter. Also sometimes called bead fern because of its clustered round sori on the fertile frond.

Comments: Red colouring present on stems. fiddleheads and fronds during very early spring growth. Very winter hardy but called sensitive fern because leaves suffer damage from early autumn frosts.  A sensitive fern in a 57 million year old fossil of Paleocene flora is nearly identical to modern specimens!

Faunal Associations : Deer enjoy laying in large patches of sensitive fern.  Wild turkeys eat the fertile fronds in winter.