Cinnamon Fern
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
Cinnamon fern forms stately vase-shaped clumps with cinnamon-colored fertile fronds standing among the green, a bold native for wet, acidic shade and bog edges. Fiddleheads were historically eaten as a nibble or cooked, but modern guidance discourages it — ostrich fern is the only fiddlehead widely considered safe in North America, and cinnamon fern's has been linked to nausea and stomach upset.
- Family
- Osmundaceae
- Type
- fern
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 2–3 ft
- Spacing
- 2–3 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade, shade
- Soil moisture
- moist, wet
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- May, June
- Bloom colors
- orange
- Landscape uses
- rain garden, naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV