Subject: Re: Edible ferns--please

From: [email-masked] (CHARLES HERSEY)
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 95 01:31:00 -500

KR´>       You boiled the fiddleheads?  I have only eaten them sauteed, in 
  ´> olive oil & maybe a hint of lemon juice, with black pepper--YMMV, but I 
  ´> thought that was wonderful.  (When I try tham again, I think I'll add a 
  ´> hint of fresh garlic, too.)  I don't think I'd like them boiled.

KR´Actually, I've had them boiled, steamed, and sauteed, with various
  ´and sundry condiments.  They just aren't appealing to me.  Neither
  ´are they on my "I'd rather eat my boot liners, thank you" list.
  ´Of course, olive oil and lemon (or garlic and butter) makes just
  ´about anything, (but maybe not the boot linings!) edible.  ;-)
[...]

Ostrich ferns. Those are the edible ferns.

Lots of ferns grow from "fiddle heads" , but only the ostrich fern is 
edible. They grow in alluvial areas. The ferns that you ate are 
probably Boston ferns that grow by the roadside. Everyone describes 
eating INedible fiddleheads as something akin to eating "boot liners" 
no matter how they are cooked.

Edible Ostrich ferns are easy to spot. Even with a foot of snow still 
on the ground ... it is easy to know where to come back to in the 
spring. Easy and worthwhile, since no one has yet figured out how to 
cultivate them.

The plant stands about 3 feet high and grows as I said in land that 
was under water that spring. Moving water, probably.

The fern has two types of frond. The Infertile green leafy one that 
started out that season from a fiddle head.

The second is the fertile frond. A woody stick that grows to about 18 
inches. It branches into many woody 1 inch thingies that hold thousands 
of tiny spores. These fertile branches stay erect, long after the 
infertile green frond has withered, thus marking the spot where the 
fern rhizome is dormant. Of course, this second fertile frond is not 
the edible frond. It never was a fiddle head.

Growing next to the edible, fiddle head frond this spring will surely 
be last year's woody infertile frond. This is the only fern that has 
this marker feature even after a tough winter, and wet spring.

Edible fiddleheads should be blanched to remove the flaky husk. This 
is how they are sold in grocery counters.

The ideas on cooking them, that are part of this post are so tasteful
that I thought that I'd help.

Bon apetit

 * 1st 1.12 *

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 15 Mar 95 09:00:49 -0600

> Ostrich ferns. Those are the edible ferns.

Allegedly edible.  And yes, those were _Matteucia struthiopteris_.
> no matter how they are cooked.

Actually, all ferns form fiddleheads (with the exception of some of the
Azolla species, which are specialized for life as a floating aquatic.).
And some cycads, esp. the seedlings, have circinnate vernation, the
name for "unrolling like a fiddlehead".

Technically also, all the ferns are edible, but some of the recent
work on cancer suggests that a steady diet of ostrich fern is likely
to be less than healthful.  And some of the other ferns have similar
compounds.

Bracken fern, _Pteridium aquilinum_, is another species commonly
harvested for "fiddleheads".  Those should be boiled in several
changes of water before eating, however.
> spring. Easy and worthwhile, since no one has yet figured out how to 

???  Odd.  I've grown them and transplanted them successfully since I
was a small child.  They're commonly available in nursery catalogs
for transplant, and they do quite well here in Iowa.

> was under water that spring. Moving water, probably.

_Matteucia_ will stand some soil waterlogging, but not to a
great extent.  Are you sure you're not looking at bracken or
sensitive fern (_Onoclea sensibilis_)?  Both have sterile and
fertile fronds, and are about the right size.  Ditto cinnamon fern,
_Osmunda cinnamomea_.  Pteridium is more likely in a sandy soil, 
Onoclea and Osmunda in a muck or loam.
> this marker feature even after a tough winter, and wet spring.

That may be true in your area, but around here, most of the species
with separate sterile and fertile fronds have sterile fronds that
survive the winter.  

The volume on ferns in the Peterson Field Guide series is a good
one for field id in the NE and central US.  For the entire US, 
Lellinger's book is probably the most comprehensive, but it's 
fairly technical and has a few clinkers.

When you identify ferns, pay special attention to the shape of the
sorus (the "fruit dot" on the back of fern leaves in those species
lacking specialized fertile fronds), the shape and position of
the indusium covering the sorus, and the venation pattern of the
fronds.  There aren't all that many species of ferns in most
areas of the US, so it's usually possible to learn most of the 
fern flora in your area in a few weeks of effort.

Have fun!  And if you see any strange little Botrychiums, let
Herb Wagner at Univ. Michigan know!  Esp. if you find them in prairies!

Kay Klier  [email-masked]