



Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
The cinnamon fern is a beautiful plant with feathery leaves that can grow quite tall. It loves to live in shady, wet places and adds a lovely green touch to the forest floor.
Habitat: Wetlands
The cinnamon fern has large, vase-shaped clusters of bright green, sterile fronds that can grow over a meter tall. Distinctive fuzzy, cinnamon-brown fertile fronds emerge in spring, standing upright in the center before releasing spores and fading.




Category
PlantsRarity
Common
Danger
1/5 · Very low
Snaps
94
It forms a giant green "vase" shape in the forest!
Its fuzzy brown fronds look like cinnamon sticks but are full of spores.
Native Americans traditionally harvested and ate its young shoots.
This ancient fern species has existed on Earth for millions of years!
Cinnamon fern can reproduce by releasing tiny spores from its unique cinnamon-colored fronds, allowing new plants to sprout far away.
The fertile fronds of cinnamon fern are covered in woolly, cinnamon-colored hairs that help protect the developing spores inside.
Cinnamon fern has young, coiled fronds called fiddleheads that can be safely eaten by humans as a tasty early spring vegetable.
Feathered describes animals, primarily birds, possessing a covering of feathers.
Deciduous plants periodically shed all their leaves, typically during autumn or dry seasons.
Grass-like plants are herbaceous plants that visually resemble true grasses, typically having long, narrow leaves.
Shade tolerant plants are adapted to grow and thrive in areas with low light levels, requiring less direct sunlight.
Spore-producing organisms reproduce by releasing small, often single-celled, reproductive units called spores.
Forest habitats are terrestrial environments dominated by dense tree cover, supporting a high diversity of plant and animal life.
This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.
No aliases listed yet.
Danger
1/5 · Very low
Always look but don’t touch wild plants, as some can be prickly or cause allergies.
The easiest way to identify cinnamon fern is to use the Snappit nature identifier app.
60-150 cm
60-120 cm
Yes
None
Perennial
Wetlands
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Jun 6, 2026
Harvard Shaker Village Historic DistrictPhoto attribution
(c) Lythronax246, some rights reserved (CC BY)
License: CC BY 4.0 ↗
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Jun 2, 2026
Cato Hill Historic DistrictPhoto attribution
(c) Branson Khounvichith, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
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May 29, 2026
Barre Downtown Historic DistrictPhoto attribution
(c) Tom Scavo, some rights reserved (CC BY)
License: CC BY 4.0 ↗
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May 28, 2026
Days Ferry Historic DistrictPhoto attribution
(c) Clay Gibbons, some rights reserved (CC BY)
License: CC BY 4.0 ↗
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May 14, 2026
Frelinghuysen ArboretumPhoto attribution
(c) gwt2102, some rights reserved (CC BY)
License: CC BY 4.0 ↗
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