Prestigious Plants - Ferns 07 - Ostrich Fern

Plant Indices

• Alphabetical Index (Genera)
• Alphabetical Index (Vernacular)
• Cladistic Index

OSTRICH FERN (Onoclea)

Family: Onocleaceae
Species: Onoclea struthiopteris (syn. Matteuccia struthiopteris)

Onoclea struthiopteris. Own Work -- de:Benutzer:Griensteidl

Names: 

• Ostrich Fern
• Cogon [Japanese]
• Common Ostrich Fern
• Fiddlehead Fern
• Fougère-À-L'autruche [French]
• Hiirenporras [Finnish]
• Kotobuki Shida [Japanese]
• Kozłek Lekarski [Polish]
• Kranssvin [Swedish]
• Kuzgunotu [Turkish]
• Kusaboshi [Japanese]
• Pensaskasen Jalka [Finnish]
• Perzikenblaadje [Dutch]
• Raunkjaer [Danish]
• Shuttlecock Fern
• Strusie Pióro [Polish]
• Strusiowe Pióro [Polish]
• 0Strutsfarn [Swedish]
• Struts Wing [Swedish]
• Strutsvinge [Norwegian]
• Straußenfarn [German]
• Straußfarn [German]
• Struisvaren [Dutch]
• Tien Ho [Chinese]

Distribution:

• Asia, Central: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tibet
• Asia, East: China (China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Inner Mongolia), Japan, Korea, Mongolia
• Asia, Northern: Russia (Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, Central European Russia, Chita, East European Russia, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Magadan, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Primorye, Sakhalin, West Siberia, Yakutskiya)
• Asia, West: Iran, Turkey
• Europe, Central: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland
• Europe, Eastern: Belarus, Romania, Ukraine
• Europe, Northern: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden
• Europe, Southern: Croatia, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia
• Europe, Western: Belgium, France, Netherlands

Biome: Temperate

Physical Description
This genus is monotypic, containing only the fiddlehead fern or ostrich fern. This crown-forming, colony-forming plant grows from an utterly vertical crown. It prefers to grow on riverbanks and sandbars. Its colonies are dense and resistant to destruction by flooding.

Food 
The immature fronds (“fiddleheads”) are edible when cooked, and the brown scales are scraped off. In Japan, they are called “kogomi” and are considered a delicacy.

Compiler Notes

• Retained for names and distribution.
• [Ostrich] association is the most fruitful avenue for magical exploitation, as the fiddlehead association is more or less universal across ferns. 

Image Refs

[Img 01 -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Matteuccia_struthiopteris_(4).JPG ]

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See Also:

• Plants
• Flowers
• Trees
• Ferns
• Moss and Lichen [Pending]
• Fungi [Pending]
• Cladistic Index
• Herbal Medicine [Pending]
• Resin, Incense, Balsam, and Lacquer [Pending]

Ferns

• Adder's Tongue and Moonwort
• Bracken
• Horsetail Fern
• Ladyfern
• Maidenhair Fern and Brake
• Royal Fern
• Wood Fern

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( https://powo.science.kew.org/ )
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteuccia )
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onocleaceae )

Name assistance provided by Claude 3.5 Sonnet.