Topic: Ferns

[Astronuc]

Well, I learned something new and unexpected tonight.

Some species of fern are edible!  Specifically the chutes or sprouts, which are called fiddleheads, because they resembled the curled head of a fiddle.

Fern Fiddleheads
The Succulent Stalks of Spring
http://www.tracksandtrees.com/articles/fiddlehead.html

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.