MOST COMMON FERN

• One of the largest and most popular ferns in cultivation today
• Dark green, pinnate fronds are shaped like ostrich plumes, being much wider at the top and tapering down to a bare stipe
• First set of leaves is sterile and has a gracefully arching form
• Leaves can reach heights of 6 feet in ideal environments
• First set of leaves dies back by early to midsummer and is replaced by a set of fertile, dark green leaves which are about half the height of the sterile ones
• Leaves turn a shiny bronze-gold in fall, becoming brown in winter
• Ostrich ferns need plenty of space to grow since they are rapid spreaders
• They spread by dense underground runners which extend out in all directions, quickly forming colonies
• Height: 3-6 feet
• Spread: 3-4 feet