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Athyrium filix-femina

Fern

HomeFernAthyrium filix-femina

Moist sheltered woods, hedgebanks and ravines, usually on acidic soils but also found in drier and more open habitats.

Family: Dryopteridaceae
Height: 0.6 m / 2 ft
Shade, Semi-shade
Light, Medium and Heavy Soil
Moist

Plant Rating

Edible Uses: 1 of 5
Medicinal Uses: 2 of 5
Other Uses: 2 of 5

Native Habitat

Lady Fern, Common ladyfern, Subarctic ladyfern, Asplenium ladyfern, Southern Lady Fern, Tatting Fer Athyrium filix-femina native habitat is Moist sheltered woods, hedgebanks and ravines, usually on acidic soils but also found in drier and more open habitats.

Edible Uses

Young shoots, harvested before they have fully unfolded, can be eaten cooked. They must not be eaten raw - see the notes above on toxicity. Used in spring, they are a bitter emergency food. Rhizome - peeled and slow-baked. Reports that the root of this plant were eaten by native North American Indians are likely to be mistaken, it was probably Dryopteris expansa that was used.

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