The Ostrich Fern ( Matteuccia struthiopteris ) is a deciduous cooler climate fern that is native to North America, Europe and eastern Asia. It prefers a shaded moist area, so are fantastic for those difficult darker areas of the garden, where many other plants will struggle. This species is a real treasure with its uniform appearance and bright, almost fluorescent green fronds.
The Ostrich Fern will grow in colonies over time, spreading by underground rhizomes, which look stunning but if unwanted can be easily separated. This plant will happily grow in pots or containers as a feature plant outdoors, indoors, as an understory plant or in wet boggy conditions near water.
The young unfurled fronds of Matteuccia struthiopteris are edible when cooked and considered a delicacy in Japan and parts of North America.
Other common names for this fern are Shuttlecock Fern and Fiddlehead Fern.
Suitable for Cold to Warm Temperate Climates. Can be grown indoors elsewhere. Live in a cool climate but looking for ferns that will grow in your zone and give that tropical appeal? Here’s another cold tolerant fern species – Rough Tree Fern.
Growth
The beautiful main fronds of the Ostrich Fern grow vertically up to 1.8 metres tall in their natural habitat, they have a similar width as they grow and spread out. This species will not grow this tall if conditions are not ideal and are more commonly around half this size outside of their native zones. Smaller fronds begin to develop a few weeks after the initial fiddleheads and are much shorter at around ½ metre in length. These smaller fronds are fertile and will produce spores in time.
As Autumn comes the larger fronds of Matteuccia struthiopteris will begin to change colour and die back before the winter frosts arrive. The plants rhizomes will stay dormant underground in temperature down to -37°C until shoots spring back up as the weather warms again. The smaller fertile (reproductive) fronds mature to brown and last until early spring when they release their spores, in the attempt to reproduce.
A sunny position will cause the foliage of this plant to burn and die back, especially in acceptable climates that also have hot summers.
FAMILY:
Onocleaceae
CLIMATE:
Cold to Warm Temperate
TEMPERATURE RANGE:
-37 to 32°C / -35 to 90°F
SOIL TYPE:
Humus rich, moist soil
LOCATION:
Full Shade – Dappled Shade
HEIGHT:
Up to 1.8 metres (6 feet)
WIDTH:
Up to 1.5 metres (5 feet)
pH:
5.0-6.8
GROWTH TYPE:
Deciduous, Perennial
WATER REQUIREMENTS:
Medium.
POLLINATION:
Spores form on the underside of the fronds, which have both male and female organisms present.
MATURITY:
2-5 years
GERMINATION RATES:
68-80%
GERMINATION TIME:
Germination process will usually begin around 2-6 weeks, however it may be many months before they start to look like little ferns.
SEEDS PER GRAM:
Too many to count – well into the hundreds of thousands.
MEDICINAL QUALITIES:
No
WEED POTENTIAL:
No
EDIBLE:
Yes
SPORE STORAGE & VIABILITY:
Cold storage at 4°C (fridge) – 1 year
FACTS ABOUT MATTEUCCIA STRUTHIOPTERIS (Ostrich Fern)
The young unfurled fronds are cooked and eaten and often seen in as a specialty produce in some countries. They are said to be similar in flavour to Asparagus. Here is a link with some advice and methods for cooking your fiddleheads.
This species get its common name the ‘Ostrich Fern’ due to the way its upright fronds spread and appear like an ostriches tail; when the tail is held up of course.
Matteuccia struthiopteris can live for 40-60 years!
