Osmunda claytoniana - Interrupted Fern

🌿Ancient dinosaur ferns!🦖

RARE. During the Jurassic Period, there was a massive explosion in dinosaurs covering a planet that looked very different from ours. Flowering plants wouldn't appear for another 100 million years; the reigning trees were conifers, gingkoes, and palms. The period just before that is called the Triassic, and that's when we first find an almost identical relative to Interrupted Fern on earth! These ancient ferns lived in lush, moist conifer woodlands across proto-continents (including Antarctica). 66 million years ago, when the meteor hit Earth and wiped out most life on the planet, these ferns survived, with their descendants living today in the Eastern US and Canada - including right here in WNC. Amazing!!

Interrupted Ferns are very easy to grow, preferring moist, well-draining soil in shady conditions. Clump-forming, with a spreading vase form, they will gently spread. These ferns have a unique appearance when they grow fertile leaflets mid-frond that then wither away. The break between the top and bottom leaflets creates an "interruption", which is how we get the common name of Interrupted Fern.

Interrupted Ferns are excellent for planting under trees, they are also ideal for forest gardens, native gardens, shade gardens, and along ponds or streams. They make interesting accent plants for shady borders.

🐦Birds - Provides cover for birds and other ground-dwelling wildlife.

🦌Deer do not find them to be tasty.

2-4'T x W.

Zone 3a, cold hardy down to -40F.

💚Plant Nerd: For those who are curious, this is what scientists say the differences are between the ancient fern fossil found in Antarctica (Osmunda claytoniites) and our modern Interrupted Fern (Osmuda claytoniana), "The only minor discernable difference between O. claytoniites and modern O. claytoniana is that the spacing of the pinnules is slightly larger in O. clayoniites" (Phipps, Taylor, et. al, 1998).