Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Huge

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate rainforest

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Defense

Toxins

Status

Uncommon

About

This massive fern grows in moist, shaded forests across western North America. Its fronds can reach nine feet in length and sprout small, cloned plantlets along their undersides.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Polypodiopsida

Order

Polypodiales

Family

Blechnaceae

Genus

Woodwardia

Species

Woodwardia fimbriata