Matteuccia

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Matteuccia
Matteuccia struthiopteris fiddleheads.jpg
Ostrich fern in Stouffville (Ontario, Canada).
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Suborder: Aspleniineae
Family: Onocleaceae
Genus: Matteuccia
Tod. [1]
Species:
M. struthiopteris
Binomial name
Matteuccia struthiopteris
Synonyms [3]
Synonyms' List

Matteuccia is a genus of ferns with one species: Matteuccia struthiopteris (common names ostrich fern, fiddlehead fern, or shuttlecock fern). [4] The species epithet struthiopteris comes from Ancient Greek words στρουθίων (strouthíōn) "ostrich" and πτερίς (pterís) "fern". [3]

Contents

Description

The fronds are dimorphic, with the deciduous green sterile fronds being almost vertical, 100–170 cm (39–67 in) tall [5] and 20–35 cm (7.9–13.8 in) broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the tip, [5] so that they resemble ostrich plumes, hence the name. [6] The fertile fronds are shorter, 40–65 cm (16–26 in) long, brown when ripe, [5] with highly modified and constricted leaf tissue curled over the sporangia; they develop in autumn, persist erect over the winter and release the spores in early spring. Along with Dryopteris goldieana , it is one of the largest species of fern in eastern North America.[ citation needed ]

Classification

Matteuccia struthiopteris is the only species in the genus Matteuccia. Some sources include two Asian species, M. orientalis and M. intermedia, but molecular data shows that M. struthiopteris is more closely related to Onocleopsis and Onoclea (sensitive fern) than it is to M. orientalis and M. intermedia, and so the latter should be moved to a genus Pentarhizidium which contains those two species. [7] Formerly classified as a member of the Dryopteridaceae, Matteuccia has been reassigned to the new much smaller family Onocleaceae.[ citation needed ]

Distribution

Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Perade, Quebec, Canada Matteuccia struthiopteris 021.jpg
Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Quebec, Canada

It is a crown-forming, colony-forming plant, occurring in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in central and northern Europe, [8] northern Asia, [9] and northern North America. [10] It grows from a completely vertical crown, favoring riverbanks and sandbars, but sends out lateral stolons to form new crowns. It can thus form dense colonies resistant to destruction by floodwaters.[ citation needed ]

Cultivation and uses

Spore-bearing fertile fronds in early spring Matteuccia struthipteris.jpg
Spore-bearing fertile fronds in early spring
Fiddlehead sprouts for sale in Japan Fiddlehead sprouts as food in Tokyo area march 9 2020.jpeg
Fiddlehead sprouts for sale in Japan

The ostrich fern is a popular ornamental plant in gardens. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [11] [12] While choosing a place of planting it should be taken into account that this fern is very expansive and its leaves often lose their beauty throughout the summer, especially if not protected from wind and hail.[ citation needed ]

The tightly wound immature fronds, called fiddleheads, are also used as a cooked vegetable, [13] and are considered a delicacy mainly in rural areas of northeastern North America. [14] It is considered inadvisable to eat uncooked fiddleheads. [13] [15] Brown "scales" are inedible and should be scraped or rinsed off. [5]

The sprouts are also picked all over Japan, ("kogomi" in Japanese) [16] as well as in other Asian regions, [17] where they are considered a delicacy.

Additionally, in Norway, fiddleheads were apparently used in the manufacture of beer, and in Russia, in the control of gut parasites. [14]

Matteuccia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Sthenopis pretiosus.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fern</span> Class of vascular plants

The ferns are a group of vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissues that conduct water and nutrients and in having life cycles in which the branched sporophyte is the dominant phase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiddlehead</span> Fronds of a young fern

Fiddleheads or fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds from a fledgling fern, harvested for use as a vegetable.

<i>Dryopteris</i> Genus of plants

Dryopteris, commonly called the wood ferns, male ferns, or buckler ferns, is a fern genus in the family Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Dryopteridoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). There are about 300-400 species in the genus. The species are distributed in Asia, the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Pacific islands, with the highest diversity in eastern Asia. It is placed in the family Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Dryopteridoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). Many of the species have stout, slowly creeping rootstocks that form a crown, with a vase-like ring of fronds. The sori are round, with a peltate indusium. The stipes have prominent scales.

<i>Onoclea sensibilis</i> Species of fern

Onoclea sensibilis, the sensitive fern, also known as the bead fern, is a coarse-textured, medium to large-sized deciduous perennial fern. The name comes from its sensitivity to frost, the fronds dying quickly when first touched by it. It is sometimes treated as the only species in Onoclea, but some authors do not consider the genus monotypic.

<i>Onoclea</i> Genus of ferns

Onoclea is a genus of plants in the family Onocleaceae, native to moist habitats in eastern Asia and eastern North America. They are deciduous ferns with sterile fronds arising from creeping rhizomes in spring, dying down at first frost. Fertile fronds appear in late summer. Depending on the authority, the genus contains one to five species.

<i>Calla</i> Monotypic genus of flowering plant in the arum family Araceae

Calla is a genus of flowering plant in the family Araceae, containing the single species Calla palustris.

<i>Polystichum</i> Genus of ferns

Polystichum is a genus of ferns in the family Dryopteridaceae, subfamily Dryopteridoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. The genus has about 500 species and has a cosmopolitan distribution. The highest diversity is in eastern Asia, with about 208 species in China alone; the region from Mexico to Brazil has at least 100 additional species; Africa, North America, and Europe have much lower diversity. Polystichum species are terrestrial or rock-dwelling ferns of warm-temperate and montane-tropical regions. They are often found in disturbed habitats such as road cuts, talus slopes, and stream banks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onocleaceae</span> Family of ferns

Onocleaceae is a small family of terrestrial ferns in the order Polypodiales. It is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. Alternatively, the family, along with Blechnaceae, may be placed in a very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae as the subfamily Blechnoideae. The family may contain from one to four genera, consisting of five species largely in north temperate climes. The four genera, Matteuccia, Onoclea, Onocleopsis and Pentarhizidium, may be included under the single genus Onoclea.

<i>Tiarella trifoliata</i> Species of flowering plant

Tiarella trifoliata, the three-leaf foamflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Saxifragaceae. The specific name trifoliata means "having three leaflets", a characteristic of two of the three recognized varieties. Also known as the laceflower or sugar-scoop, the species is found in shaded, moist woods in western North America.

<i>Pteris vittata</i> Species of fern

Pteris vittata, the Chinese brake, Chinese ladder brake, or simply ladder brake, is a fern species in the Pteridoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. It is indigenous to Asia, southern Europe, tropical Africa, and Australia. The type specimen was collected in China by Pehr Osbeck.

<i>Amauropelta noveboracensis</i> Species of fern

Amauropelta noveboracensis, the New York fern, is a perennial species of fern found throughout the eastern United States and Canada, from Louisiana to Newfoundland, but most concentrated within Appalachia and the Atlantic Northeast. New York ferns often forms spreading colonies within the forests they inhabit.

<i>Pentarhizidium</i> Genus of ferns

Pentarhizidium is a genus of two Asian fern species. These species have formerly been included in Matteuccia or Onoclea. Recent genetic analysis has determined that these two species form a discrete clade that is basal to the rest of this fern group, and so have been located in their own genus. P. orientale is sometimes grown as a garden plant.

<i>Angiopteris evecta</i> Species of fern in the family Marattiaceae

Angiopteris evecta, commonly known as the king fern, giant fern, elephant fern, oriental vessel fern, Madagascar tree fern, or mule's Foot fern, is a very large rainforest fern in the family Marattiaceae native to most parts of Southeast Asia and Oceania. It has a history dating back about 300 million years, and is believed to have the longest fronds of any fern in the world.

<i>Chirosia betuleti</i> Species of fly

Chirosia betuleti is a species of fly, which causes knotting gall in ferns. The gall develops in the terminal shoots of ferns, such as broad buckler fern, male fern, lady fern, and ostrich fern.

<i>Chenopodiastrum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Chenopodiastrum is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus was formally described in 2012. The 5 species occur in Eurasia, North Africa, and North America.

<i>Cardamine angustata</i> Species of flowering plant

Cardamine angustata is a perennial forb native to the eastern United States, that produces white to pink or purple flowers in early spring.

<i>Symphyotrichum oolentangiense</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern and central North America

Symphyotrichum oolentangiense, commonly known as skyblue aster and azure aster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern North America.

<i>Polystichum polyblepharum</i> Species of fern

Polystichum polyblepharum, the Japanese lace fern or tassel fern, is a species of plant in the wood fern family Dryopteridaceae, native to Japan and South Korea. Growing to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and broad, it forms clumps ("shuttlecocks") of evergreen fronds.

<i>Pyrularia</i> Genus of plants

Pyrularia is a small genus of shrubs or small trees in the sandalwood family (Santalaceae) which contains two species, Pyrularia pubera and Pyrularia edulis. P. pubera grows in the eastern United States and P. edulis grows in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Both species are parasitic plants, specifically hemiparasites, which while still photosynthetic, will also parasitize the roots of other plants around them.

<i>Symphyotrichum potosinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Arizona and Mexico

Symphyotrichum potosinum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Mexico and the U.S. state of Arizona. Commonly known as Santa Rita Mountain aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach heights of 15 to 45 centimeters.

References

  1. ↑ "Matteuccia Tod.". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Tod.". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Tod.". Tropicos . Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden . Retrieved 11 June 2024. Etymology: The species epithet struthiopteris comes from Ancient Greek words στρουθίων (strouthíōn) "ostrich" and πτερίς (pterís) "fern".
  4. ↑ "Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Tod.". Interglot translation dictionary. Netherlands: Interglot. Retrieved 11 June 2024. Matteuccia struthiopteris: Onoclea struthiopteris; Pteretis struthiopteris; fiddlehead; ostrich fern; shuttlecock fern; Matteuccia struthiopteris
  5. 1 2 3 4 Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. p. 58. ISBN   978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC   244766414.
  6. ↑ "Matteuccia struthiopteris". Missouri Botanical Garden . Retrieved 28 May 2023. The showy parts of this fern are the finely dissected, medium green, vegetative (sterile) fronds which, as the common name suggests, exhibit the feathery appearance of long ostrich plumes.
  7. ↑ Gastony, GJ; Ungerer, MC (1997). "Molecular systematics and a revised taxonomy of the onocleoid ferns (Dryopteridaceae: Onocleeae)". American Journal of Botany. 84 (6): 840–849. doi:10.2307/2445820. JSTOR   2445820. PMID   21708636.
  8. ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana, Felce penna di struzzo, Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Tod.
  9. ↑ Xing, Fuwu; Wang, Faguo; Kato, Masahiro. "Matteuccia struthiopteris". Flora of China. Vol. 2 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  10. ↑ "Matteuccia struthiopteris". State-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  11. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Matteuccia struthiopteris" . Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. April 2023. p. 75. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Bulletin #4198, Facts on Fiddleheads - Cooperative Extension Publications - University of Maine Cooperative Extension". Cooperative Extension Publications. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  14. 1 2 Harris, Stephen. "Plant 78 —Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro (Onocleaceae) — Ostrich fern". Biology. Oxford Plants 400. University of Oxford. Retrieved 11 June 2024. In Norway, the fern was apparently used to make beer, whilst in Russia it controlled gut parasites. Today, ostrich fern fiddleheads remain an important element of the rural economy of the American state of Maine; the rituals of harvest and consumption being seen as culturally important in the state.
  15. ↑ Dhir, S Bryn (June 2020). "Fiddlehead Fern Poisoning: A Case Report". Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. 31 (2). Austin, Texas, USA: Sage Publishing: 226–229. doi: 10.1016/j.wem.2019.12.011 . ISSN   1080-6032 . Retrieved 11 June 2024. Outdoor enthusiasts are at a high risk of poisonous side effects after ingestion of wild and raw edible fiddlehead ferns, such as the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and bracken (Pteridium genus) species, in the United States and Canada.
  16. ↑ LaPointe, Rick (21 April 2002). "Let us go fiddlehead foragin', but carefully". The Japan Times. Tokyo. Archived from the original on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  17. ↑ Dion, C; Haug, C; Guan, H; Ripoll, C; Spiteller, P; Coussaert, A; Boulet, E; Schmidt, D; Wei, J; Zhou, Y; Lamottke, K (2015). "Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative potential of four fern species from China intended for use as food supplements". Natural Product Communications. 10 (4): 597–603. doi: 10.1177/1934578X1501000416 . PMID   25973486. S2CID   8419285.

Sources

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