Osmunda
Common Name(s):
- Description
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Osmunda ferns are native to temperate climates, including many species native to southeast North America. They are defined by having separate frond types– green fronds that photosynthesize and brown fronds (not flowers) that produce spores.
VIDEO Created by Elisabeth Meyer for "Annuals, Perennials, Vines, and Groundcovers" a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.
- Profile Video:
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Juniper Level Botanic Gardens: Front Shade Garden
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Osmunda
- Family:
- Osmundaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Perennial
- Distribution:
- Temperate regions worldwide
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Fern
- Perennial
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Habit/Form:
- Broad
- Vase
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Leaf Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Gold/Yellow
- Green
- Red/Burgundy
- Leaf Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Leaf Type:
- Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
- Fronds
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Rosulate
- Leaf Shape:
- Pinnatifid
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Lobed
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- > 6 inches
- Leaf Width:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Young fronds emerge in tight coils, expanding out into large, broad, compound leaflets. Sterile fronds are green and present year-round while the more feathery fertile fronds are gold to red-brown and emerge in fall.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Description:
- No stems; leaves rise directly out of the ground.
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Landscape:
- Landscape Theme:
- Shade Garden
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Deer
- Heavy Shade
