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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Ostrich fern
| image = Matteuccia struthiopteris.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Sterile fronds in summer
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Pteridophyta]]
| classis = [[Pteridopsida]]
| ordo = [[Polypodiales]]
| familia = [[Onocleaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Matteuccia]]''
| species = '''''M. struthiopteris'''''
| binomial = ''Matteuccia struthiopteris''
| binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) [[Agostino Todaro|Todaro]]
}}
The '''Ostrich fern ''or'' Shuttlecock fern''' (''Matteuccia struthiopteris'') is a crown-forming, colony-forming [[fern]], occurring in temperate regions of the [[Northern Hemisphere]] in eastern and northern [[Europe]], northern [[Asia]] and northern [[North America]].
[[Image:Matteuccia struthipteris.jpg|left|thumb|Spore-bearing fertile fronds in early spring]]
It grows from a completely vertical crown, favoring riverbanks and sandbars, but sends out lateral [[stolon]]s to form new crowns. It thus can form dense colonies resistant to destruction by floodwaters.
The [[frond]]s are dimorphic, with the [[deciduous]] green sterile fronds being almost vertical, 100-170 cm tall and 20-35 cm broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the tip, so that they resemble [[ostrich]] plumes, hence the name. The fertile fronds are shorter, 40-60 cm long, brown when ripe, with highly modified and constricted leaf tissue curled over the [[sporangium|sporangia]]; they develop in autumn, persist erect over the winter and release the [[spore]]s in early spring.
''Matteuccia'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including ''[[Sthenopis|Sthenopis auratus]]''.
===Cultivation and uses===
The ostrich fern is a popular [[ornamental plant]] in [[garden]]s. The tightly wound immature fronds, called [[fiddlehead]]s, are also used as a cooked [[vegetable]], and are considered a delicacy mainly in rural areas of [[Atlantic Northeast|northeastern North America]].
The plants are also grown in [[Japan]], where the sprouts ("kogomi" in Japanese) are a delicacy.
==References==
*[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?400400 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Matteuccia struthiopteris'']
*Hyde, H. A., Wade, A. E., & Harrison, S. G. (1978). ''Welsh Ferns''. National Museum of Wales.
{{commons|Matteuccia struthiopteris}}
[[Category:Pteridophyta]]
[[Category:Ornamental plants]]
[[Category:Japanese cuisine]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Ostrich fern
| image = Matteuccia struthiopteris.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Sterile fronds in summer
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Pteridophyta]]
| classis = [[Pteridopsida]]
| ordo = [[Polypodiales]]
| familia = [[Onocleaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Matteuccia]]''
| species = '''''M. struthiopteris'''''
| binomial = ''Matteuccia struthiopteris''
| binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) [[Agostino Todaro|Todaro]]
}}
The '''Ostrich fern ''or'' Shuttlecock fern''' (''Matteuccia struthiopteris'') is a crown-forming, colony-forming [[fern]], occurring in temperate regions of the [[Northern Hemisphere]] in eastern and northern [[Europe]], northern [[Asia]] and northern [[North America]].
[[Image:Matteuccia struthipteris.jpg|left|thumb|Spore-bearing fertile fronds in early spring]]
It grows from a completely vertical crown, favoring riverbanks and sandbars, but sends out lateral [[stolon]]s to form new crowns. It thus can form dense colonies resistant to destruction by floodwaters.
The [[frond]]s are dimorphic, with the [[deciduous]] green sterile fronds being almost vertical, 100-170 cm tall and 20-35 cm broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the tip, so that they resemble [[ostrich]] plumes, hence the name. The fertile fronds are shorter, 40-60 cm long, brown when ripe, with highly modified and constricted leaf tissue curled over the [[sporangium|sporangia]]; they develop in autumn, persist erect over the winter and release the [[spore]]s in early spring.
''Matteuccia'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including ''[[Sthenopis|Sthenopis auratus]]''.
===Cultivation and uses===
The ostrich fern is a popular [[ornamental plant]] in [[garden]]s. The tightly wound immature fronds, called [[fiddlehead]]s, are also used as a cooked [[vegetable]], and are considered a delicacy mainly in rural areas of [[Atlantic Northeast|northeastern North America]].
The plants are also grown in [[Japan]], where the sprouts ("kogomi" in Japanese) are a delicacy.
==References==
*[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?400400 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Matteuccia struthiopteris'']
*Hyde, H. A., Wade, A. E., & Harrison, S. G. (1978). ''Welsh Ferns''. National Museum of Wales.
{{commons|Matteuccia struthiopteris}}
[[Category:Pteridophyta]]
[[Category:Ornamental plants]]
[[Category:Japanese cuisine]]
