Plant
Sensitive fern
Onoclea sensibilis
A native deciduous fern of moist meadows, wetland edges, and forest streamsides — distinctive coarsely-lobed pale-green sterile fronds and separate brown bead-like fertile fronds (which persist through winter). The 'sensitive' name comes from the species' rapid dieback at the first frost. Common across Staten Island's wet meadows and Greenbelt wetland edges.
Scientific
Onoclea sensibilis is a 1–3 ft deciduous fern with two distinct frond types: sterile fronds with deeply-lobed pale-green leaflets, and fertile fronds with bead-like brown reproductive structures that persist through winter (called “bead-stalks”). The species reproduces vigorously by both spores and rhizomes, often forming dense colonies in suitable habitat.
The “sensitive” common name refers to the species’ rapid dieback at first frost — the leafy fronds wither and collapse very quickly compared to most ferns.
Wide habitat range: wet meadows, marsh edges, ditches, streamsides, swamp forest. Tolerates seasonal flooding.
On Staten Island
Common in the borough’s wet meadows, freshwater-marsh edges, and Greenbelt wetland fringes. Often co-occurs with cattails, sedges, and [[joe-pye-weed|Joe-Pye weed]] in upper-marsh and meadow communities. The persistent winter fertile fronds are a recognizable feature of SI wetland margins through the cold season.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Member of: [[plants]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- USDA NRCS Plants Database: sensitive fern
- [[beacon-ny|New York]] Natural Heritage Program wetland-ecology references
Rooted in life.
What links here, and how
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Scientific
counterpart to
- Cinnamon fern the borough's two most-common wetland ferns — sensitive fern with deeply-lobed fronds, cinnamon fern with finely-divided pinnate fronds and distinctive cinnamon fertile spikes
General
shares approach with
- Willow auto-linked via shared tag: wetland
2 inbound links · 2 outbound