Fern Fiddleheads

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Fern Fiddleheads The Succulent Stalks of Spring By Sam Thayer

Tracks and Trees Wild Edibles instructor

Author of The Forager Newsletter

Almost everyone has heard of “fiddlehead ferns,” a gourmet wild vegetable

found across much of North America in the springtime. Few wild edibles are so

well known, so convenient and tasty, or so widely available. Yet unfortunately,

few of them are surrounded by so much confusion. Many people mistakenly believe

that all fern fiddleheads are edible. Because of this misconception, stories of

people getting sick from fiddleheads are common, and this has caused many to

steer clear of these wildlings. All of this confusion is unnecessary, for

learning to identify the edible species of fiddleheads is rather easy – and the

reward is a lifetime of free and delicious vegetables.

There are three main species of edible ferns in North America: ostrich fern

Matteucia struthiopteris, lady fern Athyrium filix-femina, and bracken fern

Pteridium aquilinum. All of them are widespread and, in certain areas, abundant.

For each of these species the part gathered and eaten is the young, tender shoot

(called fiddleheads due to the curled tips, which resemble the top of a fiddle)

found in spring and early summer. The mature fronds of all of these ferns should

not be eaten.

Ostrich Fern When people say “fiddlehead fern” they are most often talking

about the ostrich fern. This is the species often available in produce markets

and sometimes even on the menus of fine restaurants. These magnificent ferns

grow mostly in shady river bottoms, where often they cover many acres of ground,

but they are also occasionally found in rich hardwood forests. Ostrich fern

ranges from Newfoundland to Alaska and British Colombia, south to northern

California, the Midwest, and the Southern Appalachians. It is abundant in the

upper Great Lakes, the Northeast, and much of southern Canada.

Ostrich ferns grow from three to six feet tall. The five to nine fronds

(leaves) of each plant are arranged in a rosette forming a large funnel. The

fronds emanate from a large rootstock or rhizome, which looks like a scaly clump

or mound. Ostrich ferns bear their spores on separate, brown fronds which are

smaller than the others and stand erect in the middle of the cluster. These are

often collected for dried flower arrangements.

Of course, you’re looking for fiddleheads, not full-grown fronds. The

fiddlehead stalks are smooth and naked of any scales or wool, but the coiled

tops are full of brown papery flakes. The top side of the stalk (or, the part

facing the center of the rosette) has a deep, U-shaped trough running its entire

length – this is an important feature to look for.

Gather the fiddleheads in mid to late spring; they’ll be too old by the time

the leaves are fully formed on the sugar maples and oaks. Harvest them when they

are eight to twenty inches tall – as long as they are still tender and the leafy

portion of the frond is not yet unfurled. Usually the bottom quarter or so of

the stalk is too tough to eat; in time you’ll get the hang of knowing where to

break them off. You don’t have to cut the fiddleheads; when bent they should

snap off cleanly.

Many people only collect the tightly coiled tops of the fiddleheads, leaving

behind the juicy stalk which constitutes the greater part of the shoot. I have

never been able to figure out why this is done – there is no gustatory,

culinary, or practical reason for it. In fact, I greatly prefer both the flavor

and the texture of the stalks to that of the coiled leafy tips. Your fiddlehead

patch will yield a lot more good food if you harvest the whole vegetable.

Ostrich fern is easy to gather in great quantities and for that reason has

long been a popular green to store up for the winter by canning, a tradition

that I still carry on. I just open a jar at my convenience and use it in a soup

or casserole. But canned fiddleheads are not half as good as the fresh

vegetables. Simply boiled or steamed and served with butter like asparagus they

are superb. Ostrich fern shoots are crisp and sweet when raw and make a pleasant

addition to salads or can be just nibbled on a hike through the woods.

A Note on Cinnamon and Interrupted Ferns Cinnamon fern Osmundea cinnamomea is

common on sandy soil in partial shade where the water table is close to the

surface. Interrupted fern Osmundea claytonia is abundant in wooded areas across

much of the range of ostrich fern and likes partial shade on rich, moist to

mucky soil. In the fiddlehead stage, these two large rosette ferns are often

confused with ostrich fern. Both can be easily discriminated by the presence of

wool covering the fiddleheads and by the absence of the U-shaped groove running

the length of the stalk.

Many people believe that one or both of these ferns are the “true” edible

fiddlehead ferns. Thousands of people collect and eat these ferns every year

despite the fact that they are mildly toxic. I have, on numerous occasions, seen

published photographs of interrupted ferns mislabeled as one of the edible

species.

Undoubtedly this misunderstanding is what accounts for most of the sickness

associated with eating fiddleheads.

The problem is that these ferns are only mildly toxic, and their bitter taste

(which I find detestable) is apparently not repulsive to everyone. It is

entirely possible to nibble only one or two raw, or to throw a handful of the

chopped-up stalks into split-pea soup, and not feel sick. However, the

consumption of a large serving of cooked cinnamon or interrupted fern

fiddleheads, or just a moderate serving when raw, can result in nausea,

dizziness, lethargy, and headache. Do not eat them.

Lady Fern The lady fern is found scattered in moist conifer and deciduous

forests, where it tolerates a high degree of shade. This fern, commonly used in

landscaping, ranges from coast to coast and is abundant in the northern U.S. and

much of Canada. Its rosettes usually consist of three to seven fronds which rise

from two to three and a half feet above the forest floor. This species also

exhibits a groove running down the top of its stalk, only it is proportionately

smaller than that of the ostrich fern. The spores of lady fern are borne on the

underside of the frond rather than on a separate one like those of ostrich fern

are.

The tips of lady fern fiddleheads are not coiled as tightly as those of

ostrich, cinnamon, or interrupted fern. The stalk has a sparse coating of

dark-brown, curled-up, papery scales which look like short, thick, hairs. Lady

fern fiddleheads are much thinner than those of ostrich fern and are also a

lighter green.

Lady fern tastes much like ostrich fern, only with an added faint bitterness.

It can be used similarly in cooking, but it is advisable to rub off the “hairs,”

since their texture is rather unpleasant. I enjoy lady fern fiddleheads but find

them les preferable to those of ostrich fern due to the flavor, smaller size,

and somewhat annoying hairs.

Bracken Fern This amazing species is probably the most abundant and

widespread wild plant on Earth. In many parts of North America bracken fern

carpets thousands upon thousands of acres. Commonly just called “bracken,” this

unusual fern inhabits dry, sunny, and often infertile habitats such as pine

barrens, open woodlands, young forests, cutovers, abandoned fields, and burned

areas. It is found across the northern United States and Canada, extending

southward at higher elevations.

Unlike the other two ferns discussed, bracken does not grow in rosettes.

Bracken stems grow singly, rising straight up from the ground with no branching

and little taper for one to five feet – then the stalks suddenly split into

three main forks, forming a large, roughly triangular frond that grows almost

parallel to the ground. Bracken stalks are connected by a network of thin

rhizomes found a few inches underground, and they often form very large

colonies.

Bracken fiddleheads are not coiled up the way those of ostrich fern are; the

top may or may not droop down or curl up slightly, and the three main forks are

each coiled up next to one another. These shoots are also sometimes called

croziers. A distinctive feature of bracken is two black dots on the fiddlehead

where the main branches fork; on warm days ants will be seen feeding on a

substance produced by these dark spots. Bracken shoots are covered with a layer

of short, rusty-colored fuzz which can easily be rubbed off before consumption.

These fiddleheads should be collected when they are eight inches to two feet

tall – as long as the forks are still unfurled and the stems snap easily. The

lower portion will generally be too tough to eat, especially on the taller

stalks. The season of harvest for these fiddleheads is long, as a few shoots

will come up into midsummer.

Bracken shoots are a traditional food in Japan, Korea, and parts of China, and

today they are still regularly eaten by many millions of people in those

countries. The plant was also eaten extensively by native people in New Zealand

and North America. The cooked shoots are excellent in soups, pasta, casseroles,

and many oriental dishes. (They are even available canned in many Asian or

gourmet food stores.) Every year I store some for the winter by canning or

sun-drying, as they are conveniently available in copious quantities. It is

recommended that bracken fern not be eaten raw in significant quantities.

Bracken fern contains a chemical, ptaquiloside, that is known to be

carcinogenic to mammals in high doses. The American Cancer Society places it in

the same risk category as coffee and sassafras. This doesn’t mean that if you

eat bracken you’ll die of cancer; many things that we commonly eat contain

carcinogenic chemicals, such as char-broiled meat, potato chips, and all smoked

foods. I still occasionally eat bracken fiddleheads.

 

Conservation

In some areas ostrich fern has been seriously overharvested by market

collectors. Although they are prolific and vigorous, any of these ferns can be

overcollected due to carelessness. For lady and ostrich ferns, collect only 2-5

shoots per rosette, and never more than once per season. For bracken fern, never

pick more than 50 % of the stems in an area, and try to spread out your impact.

Millions of people across North America have convenient access to one or more

of these fern species. They are easy to identify, a cinch to cook, a joy to

gather, and free for the taking. This spring, why not give them a try?

 

 

 

 

Gurubandhu

 

If you cannot see God in all,

You cannot see God at all.

 

Yogi Bhajan

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Thanks, here is a bit more info though

Bracken

http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecordframe2.asp?id=10

Note: Toxicity Title halfway down the page

 

Bracken, Ostrich, Cinnamon and Lady Fern

http://tracksandtrees.com/articles/fiddlehead.html

 

Fiddleheads multiple varieties

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead

 

There was another article I saw previously and can't find that talked

about how 4 the 5 varieties are edible, but that Ostrich is the only

one not implicated as cancer causing.

 

I'm sure eating any of them a few times a year, isn't that dangerours

as the problem chemicals would need to build in your system. Still,

I'm sticking to store bought, hoping they know enough to pick Ostrich.