Onoclea sensibilis
sensitive fern, bead fern, sympathy fern
Family
Dryopteridaceae
Leaf Arrangement
alternate
Leaf Attachment
petiolate
Leaf Margin
pinnatifid
Leaf Type
bipinnate, compound, pinnate
Growth Form
fern
Flower Month
March - November
Height (meters)
1.0
Milky Sap
No
Armed/Unarmed
Unarmed
Origin
native
Lifespan
perennial
Wetland Class
FACW
Wetland Coefficient of Conservatism
7
Field Characters
Superficially similar to chain fern (Woodwardia areolata) and sometimes confused with it. Chain fern grows to 1-2’ and tends to have alternate pinnae with acute tips and that are not toothed on the margins, its prominent veins are not netted. Onoclea grows taller (4’), withers at first touch of frost (hence its name), tends to have opposite pinnae with blunt tips, prominent veins that are not netted, and its leaves are not strongly dimorphic.
Habitat
Moist woodlands, floodplains, stream banks, swamps, marshes, muddy ditches, seepage areas, meadows, sandy bogs, thickets.