Osmunda claytoniana

Sizes available: 2 quart

Basics: zones 3-7, 24-48" x 24-36" (taller in ideal conditions), dappled sun to part shade to full shade, prefers medium to wet, rich, acidic, woodland soils, but is adaptable to a more middle-of-the road environment.

Common names: Interrupted Fern

Family: Osmundaceae

Origin/Distribution: Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Georgia and Louisiana, native to Maine.

Habitat: bogs, stream banks, moist woodland slopes, ravines, and bottoms

More: Why grow ferns besides your admiration for a plant that has been present on Earth for over 360 billion years? Ferns support wildlife by creating protective cover and shady, moist micro-habitats for small mammals, toads, salamanders, and numerous insects. The fuzzy covering on emerging croziers is used by birds for nesting material. Ferns help prevent erosion and filter run-off. For the gardener they offer the gifts of graceful architecture and low-maintenance, textural beauty. They are also rabbit, deer, and juglone resistant.

The common name, Interrupted Fern, comes from the placement of its spore structure in the middle of each stalk. After emergence in the spring, fertile leaflets develop partway between to top and bottom of the stalk (frond) and once these wither away a gap is left between upper and lower leaflets, therefore the "interrupted" moniker.  Fiber from this fern is used to make potting medium for orchids.

Nursery: Van Berkum

Image credits: full form: Wikimedia Commons; Fronds with spore structures by James St. John; Fiddlehead by Tom Bech - the last two images are from Creative Commons via the North Carolina Extension Gardeners Toolbox