Plantae > Tracheophyta > Polypodiopsida > Polypodiales > Dennstaedtiaceae > Pteridium > Pteridium aquilinum

Pteridium aquilinum (northern bracken fern; brackenfern; bracken; bracken fern; western brackenfern)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Pteridium aquilinum (bracken, brake or common bracken), also known as eagle fern, is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. The extreme lightness of its spores has led to its global distribution. It was traditionally treated as the sole species in the genus Pteridium (brackens); authorities have split and recognised up to 11 species in the genus, however. The spores have also been implicated as carcinogens.
View Wikipedia Record: Pteridium aquilinum

Infraspecies

Pteridium aquilinum aquilinum
Pteridium aquilinum brownseyi
Pteridium aquilinum capense
Pteridium aquilinum centrali-africanum (Western brackenfern)
Pteridium aquilinum decompositum
Pteridium aquilinum f. aquilinum
Pteridium aquilinum feei
Pteridium aquilinum fulvum
Pteridium aquilinum japonicum
Pteridium aquilinum latiusculum
Pteridium aquilinum pinetorum (waimakanui) (Attributes)
Pteridium aquilinum pseudocaudatum (Bracken fern)
Pteridium aquilinum pubescens
Pteridium aquilinum var. esculenta
Pteridium aquilinum wightianum (Hairy bracken)
Pteridium latiusculum var. latiusculum

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium
Screening - Summer [2]  Porous
Screening - Winter [2]  Porous
Bloom Period [2]  Summer
Drought Tolerance [2]  Medium
Edible [3]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [2]  High
Frost Free Days [2]  90 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  Medium
Fruit/Seed Begin [2]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [2]  Fall
Growth Form [2]  Rhizomatous
Growth Period [2]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [2]  Moderate
Hazards [3]  There are a number of reports regarding the possible health risks of this plant. The huge quantity of spores released by large areas of bracken are suggested to be implicated in stomach cancers. A recent study suggests that this is not such a problem in Britain as was once believed, the spores are not produced in such high quantities nor do they travel so far due to our normally humid atmosphere. The leaves and roots contain substances that deprive the body of vitamin B1 if they are eaten raw, though they are possibly alright cooked; The leaves are also said to be carcinogenic;
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Propagation [2]  Bare Root, Bulb, Seed, Sprig
Regrowth Rate [2]  Slow
Root Depth [2]  10 inches (25 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [2]  Moderate
Seed Vigor [2]  Medium
Shape/Orientation [2]  Erect
Structure [3]  Fern
Usage [3]  A glue can be made from the rootstock; A brown dye is obtained from the fronds; It is green according to another report; The fibrous remnants from edible roots make a good tinder; The rhizome lathers readily in water and can be used as a soap; A decoction of the root has been used as a hair wash; The roots have been rubbed into the scalp in order to promote hair growth; The roots have been pounded to remove the bark, then split into flat bands and used as the black strands of cheap baskets; The ashes of the plant are rich in potassium and could be used as a fertilizer; They are also used in the manufacture of glass (when mixed with sand) and in making soap (when mixed with vegetable oil); The roots contain up to 20% potash in early summer, but this reduces to about 5% in the autumn; The whole plant is a very valuable addition to the compost heap, it is rich in potash and makes an excellent compost for tree seeds; Cut twice a year if you want the plants to continue growing, three cuts annually will weaken and eventually kill off the plants. The dried ferns produce a very durable thatch; The leaves are used as a packing material for fruit, keeping it fresh and cool without imparting any colour or flavour; They are also used as a lining for baskets, fruit drying racks etc and as a bedding; The leaves repel insects and can help to prevent rot in the fruits etc; Dried bracken fronds are very useful in the garden as a mulch for somewhat tender plants. This will keep the soil warmer, protect from wind damage and also keep off some of the rain;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  Moderate
Flower Color [2]  Green
Foliage Color [2]  Dark Green
Fruit Color [2]  Brown
Height [3]  3.936 feet (1.2 m)
Width [3]  6.56 feet (2 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [2]  USDA Zone: 2 Low Temperature: -50 F° (-45.6 C°) → -40 F° (-40 C°)
Light Preference [4]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [4]  Mostly Acid
Soil Fertility [4]  Mostly Infertile
Soil Moisture [4]  Moist
Water Use [2]  Moderate
View Plants For A Future Record : Pteridium aquilinum

Protected Areas

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Ecosystems

Predators

Consumers

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 4ECOFACT 2a Technical Annex - Ellenberg’s indicator values for British Plants, M O Hill, J O Mountford, D B Roy & R G H Bunce (1999)
♦ 5Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 6Ecology of Commanster
♦ 7Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 8Aplodontia rufa, Leslie N. Carraway and B. J. Verts, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 431, pp. 1-10 (1993)
♦ 9An Ecological Survey of Endemic MOUNTAIN BEAVERS (Aplodontia rufa) in California, 1979-83, Dale T. Steele', State of California, THE RESOURCES AGENCY, Department of Fish and Game
♦ 10HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 11Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 12FOOD HABITS IN RELATION TO THE ECOLOGY AND POPULATION DYNAMICS OF BLUE GROUSE, RICHARD DENNIS KING, Masters Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1964
♦ 13Patterns of Folivory and Seed Ingestion by Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in a Southeastern Pine Savanna, Roger D. Birkhead, Craig Guyer and Sharon M. Hermann, Am. Midl. Nat. 154:143-151
♦ 14Marmota vancouverensis, David G. Nagorsen, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 270, pp. 1-5 (1987)
♦ 15FERN FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE AZORES BULLFINCH PYRRHULA MURINA: THE SELECTION OF FERN SPECIES AND THE INFLUENCE OF NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION IN FERN CHOICE, M. L. AROSA, J. A. RAMOS, T. VALKENBURG, R. CEIA, H. LABORDA, L. G. QUINTANILLA and R. HELENO, Ardeola 56(1), 2009, 71-84
♦ 16Study of Northern Virginia Ecology
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0