Rick’s Native Plant of the Month | Cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum)

Cinnamon fern is one of our most attractive and ornamental ferns.  It can take more sun than most ferns if given enough moisture and its lance-shaped fronds grow in a circular pattern and stand straight and tall.  Cinnamon ferns are known to grow almost 5-feet tall, but most are much shorter, topping out at 2-3 feet.  In spring, a fertile frond or spike emerges in the center and gradually turns from green to cinnamon-brown.  After releasing spores, these spikes can persist even after fern leaves are killed by frost.

Native to eastern North America, cinnamon fern is found in swamps and moist woods.  Its range also extends into Mexico and south to Peru and Paraguay.  It can also be found in China, Korea and Japan and has a 70 million years-old fossil record that makes it one of the oldest living plants.

Indigenous peoples used cinnamon fern medicinally for colds and snakebites.  In gardens, it is perfect for shady areas, woodland gardens and as a ground cover under tall trees. At Bridge Gardens, you can find cinnamon fern at the base of the pillars that support our wisteria arbor and in the perennial bed that borders the shade garden.