Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Pteridophyta -- Ferns

Class: Filicopsida

Order: Polypodiales

Family: Dennstaedtiaceae (formerly included in Polypodiaceae)

Variety: The western phase is var. pubescens.

Common Name: western bracken fern, brake

Species Code: PTAQ, PTAQP2

Origin: Widespread and common, especially in dry to moist forested areas of North America. It is occasionally found in shrub thickets and infrequently in moist places in grasslands of the Palouse, being more common in the adjacent forested areas.

Rare: no

Form: fern, erect, 1.2-2 m tall; perennial from deep rhizomes, rhizomes lacking scales.

Mature height: 3-6 feet

Duration: perennial

Longevity: medium life-span

Habitat Type: forest, hawthorn thicket

Wetland Indicator Status: not listed

Leaves: scattered, deciduous, triangular, 50-200 cm long overall; glabrous above, villous or villous-puberulent beneath, tri-pinnate with numerous pinnules; pinnules oblong, widely spreading, 0.5-2 cm long and 3-6 mm wide, wooly to glabrous below.

Sporulation: summer

Spores: spores tetrahedral; sori protected by the inrolled margin of the leaf.

Characteristics:
The original family Polypodiaceae has been divided into a number of families and Pteridium placed in family Dennstaedtiaceae.
Reproduces both sexually by spores and vegetatively by rhizomes. Can be aggressive, especially invading disturbed areas.
P. aquilinum ssp. lanuginosum and P. aquilinum var. lanuginosum are synonymous with var. pubescens.
Fiddlenecks are sometimes eaten cooked. Cooking removes some of the toxin, but the fiddlenecks also contain carcinogens which are not inactivated by cooking.
Native peoples ate the fiddlenecks and rhizomes and used the plants medicinally (Stubbendieck et al 1997).
Poisonous to livestock. Ruminants are less susceptible to poisoning because the rumen breaks down some of the poison (Fitzsimmons & Burrill 1993). New growth is eaten by cattle and deer but older growth is avoided (Stubbendieck et al 1997).
Spores are windborne.

Comments: Spores are haploid. They germinate to form a gametophyte generation called a prothallus. The prothallus contains the sexual organs and sexual reproduction occurs there. Successful fertilization requires water between the prothallus and the soil. The fertilized egg develops into a new plant, the sporophyte (diploid) generation.

Sun requirement: full sun to partial shade

Soil moisture: mesic

Precipitation: 16-60 (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2010).

Fire: Well adapted to fire. Sprouts from surviving rhizomes and windborne spores from off-site. Sprouts are more vigorous and produce more spores in fire-created openings. Summer fires reduce sprouting (Crane 1990, Patterson et al 2004).

Hazards: Fiddlenecks contain carcinogens which are only partilly inactivated by heat. Poisonous to livestock.

Transplant time: fall or spring

Planting duration: long

Seed comments: reproduces by spores

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Keywords: native perennial upland fern

Propagation:
Reproduces both sexually by spores and vegetatively by rhizomes.
Can be propagated from rhizomes. Propagation from spores is probably similar to that for other ferns.

References:
Crane, M. F. 1990. Pteridium aquilinum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [accessed November 29, 2008].

Fitzsimmons, J.P., and L.C. Burrill. 1993. Western Brackenfern, Pteridium aquilinum L. Kuhn var. pubescens Undw. Pacific Northwest Extension Publication PNW 443. Oregon State University, Washington State University, and the University of Idaho.

Patterson, Patricia A., Kenneth E. Neiman, and Jonalea R. Tonn, 2004. Field Guide to Forest Plants of Northern Idaho. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-118-CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Revision of 1985 publication.

Stubbendieck, James, Stephan L. Hatch, and Charles H. Butterfield. 1997. North American Range Plants. 5th edition. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. 501 pp.

USDA NRCS. 2010. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 1 March 2010). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species account from the Fire Effects Information System
Species description from Flora of North America
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium