Ontario Weeds: Eastern bracken
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Excerpt from Publication 505, Ontario Weeds,
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Table of Contents
Name: Eastern bracken, Pteridium
aquilinum (L.) Kuhn var. latiusculum (Desf.) Underw.,
Other Names: fougère d'aigle,
Bracken, Bracken fern, Brake, Fiddlehead, Pasture-brake, grande
fougère, fougère à l'aigle
Family: Fern Family (Polypodiaceae)
General Description: Perennial. Never
has flowers or seeds but reproduces by spores and by shallow or
deep, widely spreading, dark brown underground stems.
Eastern bracken, side view (scale units = 10 cm, 4 in).
Eastern bracken, 2 shoots viewed from above.
Eastern bracken. A. Leaf (frond). B. Underside
of portion of leaf showing spore-producing
area along margins.
Leaves: Young leaves (crosiers) are curled
like a fiddlehead as they emerge from the ground. After straightening
out, the leaf is compound with 3 main divisions from the tip of the
leafstalk and all 3 redivided into numerous smaller divisions. The
whole compound leaf may be 30-140cm (1-4½ft) long and 30-100cm
(1-3 1/3ft) broad and has a triangular appearance. The leaf usually
bends at the tip of the erect leafstalk, so that the 3 major divisions
of the leaf are held more or less parallel to the ground surface.
After midsummer, brown spores are produced in dense bands on the undersides
of many of the leaf segments, but may be partly hidden at first by
the inrolled leaf margins.
Habitat: Eastern bracken occurs throughout
central, eastern, northern and northwestern Ontario in many soil types
ranging from moist to dry situations, but usually near or under open
woods.
Similar Species: It is distinguished
by its bare, erect leafstalk at the tip of which the 3-parted compound
leaf is held more or less parallel to the ground surface.
Caution: Leaves of Eastern bracken are poisonous
to livestock both when fresh and dry in hay. Its poisonous properties
are complex, including an interference with vitamin B. Recent evidence
has indicated that leaves of Eastern bracken will produce certain
types of cancer in cattle and in laboratory animals. The practice
by some people of eating young crosiers of this fern in early spring
as a "wild asparagus" should be strongly discouraged.
Related Links
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Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
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Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
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