Plant
Cinnamon fern
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
A large (2–5 ft) native fern of moist eastern forests — distinguished by separate sterile fronds (green) and fertile fronds (cinnamon-colored, hence the name) that emerge in early spring. One of the most-conspicuous wetland-edge ferns on Staten Island; common in the Greenbelt's wet pockets and along stream margins. Long-lived rhizomes can persist for centuries; some hummocks of this species are estimated to be 1,000+ years old.
Scientific
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum is a 2–5 ft fern of moist eastern hardwood forests and wetland edges. Distinctive among ferns for having two clearly-distinct frond types: tall pinnate green sterile fronds, and shorter [[cinnamon|cinnamon]]-brown spore-bearing fertile fronds emerging at the center of the cluster in early spring. Both fronds emerge as [[fiddleheads|fiddleheads]] (“crozier”-stage tightly-coiled emerging fronds) in spring.
The species’ rhizome can persist underground for very long periods. Some old [[cinnamon|cinnamon]]-fern hummocks in mature wetlands are estimated to be over 1,000 years old — one of the longest-lived clonal plant structures in the Northeast.
The fiddlehead-stage emerging fronds were a traditional indigenous food (note: cinnamon fern [[fiddleheads|fiddleheads]] are less commonly eaten than ostrich-fern [[fiddleheads|fiddleheads]], which are the standard “fiddlehead” of Northeast spring foraging).
On Staten Island
Common in the borough’s wet forest pockets, Greenbelt streamsides, freshwater-marsh edges. Spring emergence of [[cinnamon|cinnamon]]-colored fertile spikes is a distinctive April–May feature of the Greenbelt’s wet zones.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Counterpart to: [[sensitive-fern]]
- Member of: [[plants]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- USDA NRCS Plants Database: cinnamon fern
- [[beacon-ny|New York]] Natural Heritage Program wetland-fern documentation
Rooted in life.
What links here, and how
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Scientific
counterpart to
- Royal fern two of the borough's largest native wetland ferns — both in family Osmundaceae, both producing distinctive cinnamon-and-rust-colored fertile structures
Cultural
shares approach with
- Fern auto-linked from body mention
2 inbound links · 3 outbound