Family Traits
This is the time of year for fiddleheads.
Two species of fiddleheads that are up now are Interrupted Fern and Cinnamon Fern.
Interrupted Fern and Cinnamon Fern are members of the family Osmundaceae. The Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis, is also a member of this family.
Both of the Interrupted and Cinnamon ferns have had their Latin genus specie name changed.
The former name for Interrupted Fern were Osmunda claytonia. It is now called Claytosmunda claytoniana.
The former names for Cinnamon Fern were Osmunda cinnamomea. It is now called Osmundastrum cinnamomeum.
Even though the genus of both ferns has changed, they are still the same plant!
This spring I noticed that the fiddleheads were very similar. Do ferns of the same family have similar fiddleheads? The answer is yes, at least for these two species.
When thinking of fiddleheads, the classic spiral or crosier shaped fiddlehead comes to mind. This is the fiddlehead of the Ostrich Fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris.
Cinnamon and Interrupted have different fiddleheads. They are more triangular and very similar.
See for yourself the similarities of the fiddleheads in the pictures below.
Cinnamon fern fiddlehead
Cinnamon fern fiddlehead
Interrupted fern fiddlehead
Interrupted fiddlehead