Onoclea sensibilis L.

Sensitive fern, bead fern, meadow brake

About plant names...

Sensitive fern is common in temperate regions of Asia and North America. Its common and species names reflects the fact that its fronds give out at the first sign of frost (though its roots remain intact for next spring). Onoclea, from Greek meaning “closed vessel,” refers to the closely rolled fertile fronds. This genus has only a single species.

Identification: This robust fern favors wet areas, where its roots put up irregular rows of erect or tilted fronds. Young stems are red, and the emerging “fiddleheads” are pale red. Sterile fronds are 8-40" (20-101 cm) long, with 8-12 pairs of opposing light green pinnae (leaflets). Fertile fronds are 10-20" (25-50 cm) long, composed of pinnae so tightly rolled up as to resemble beads—the sori are inside the rolled leaves. The “beads” are ¹/₁₆-⅛" (2-4 mm) around. In winter, the sterile fronds die back and disappear, but the fertile fronds, now dark brown and hard, remain as an unmistakable sign of this species.

Online References:

Onoclea sensibilis on Earl J.S. Rook's Flora, Fauna, Earth, and Sky ... The Natural History of the Northwoods

Onoclea sensibilis at Illinois Wildflowers

Onoclea sensibilis on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Onoclea sensibilis on the Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

References:

Cobb, Boughton, Farnsworth, Elizabeth & Lowe, Cheryl, Peterson Field Guides: A Field Guide to Ferns and Their Related Families of Northwestern and Central North America, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, p. 168

4/19/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 3½ × 2' (1 × 0.7 m)

4/6/2021 · Otter Brook Trail, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 3½ × 6" (9.5 × 14 cm)

5/4/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 10 × 7" (24 × 16 cm)

4/8/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 6 × 9" (14 × 22 cm)

6/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 24 × 16" (62 × 41 cm)

4/6/2021 · Otter Brook Trail, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 3½ × 6" (8.8 × 14 cm)

8/8/2010 · Jeff Smith Trail, Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 4 × 6" (10 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

6/8/2012 · Squannacook River Wildlife Area, Townsend, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 15 × 10" (39 × 26 cm)

5/29/2010 · Maine Audubon Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth, Maine
≈ 24 × 16" (62 × 41 cm)

6/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 11 × 7" (27 × 18 cm)

5/4/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 5 × 6" (13 × 15 cm)

Onoclea sensibilis description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 5 Oct 2021.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.

4/21/2021 · Center Pond Preserve, Phippsburg, Maine
≈ 4 × 6" (10.0 × 14 cm)

4/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 6 × 6" (16 × 15 cm)

4/28/2014 · Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, New Hamp­shire
≈ 6 × 9" (15 × 21 cm)

5/2/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 11 × 7" (27 × 18 cm)

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver, Hollis, Mass­a­chu­setts

5/2/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 8 × 6" (21 × 15 cm)

8/16/2014 · White Mountains, New Hamp­shire
≈ 7 × 9" (17 × 23 cm)

8/8/2010 · Jeff Smith Trail, Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 4 × 6" (10 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

Range: Zones 4-8:

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