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Pteridium aquilinum
Bracken is the most common fern in the UK. A long-lived extensively spreading plant, it can grow up to 2.5m.
It has long fronds with pinnate leaves, which means they have one long stem in the centre with small leaves coming off.
This species, unlike other fern species, dies back in the winter, with it’s leaves turning brown. In the spring Bracken fronds appear tightly curled and slowly unravel.
Bracken is a common site all around the UK – but it’s not just in the British Isles that it can be seen, this species is found on every continent except Antarctica.
Here in the British Isles, it can be found in moorlands, woodlands, heathlands, and even pastures and abandoned agricultural land.
Bracken has fascinating folklore and can be linked to a number of different cultures and religions.
One of the most interesting mythologies around this species is that it was said to hold the power to turn people invisible! Bracken reproduces using tiny spores rather than seeds. The story goes that holding the spores of bracken could make you as invisible as they were.
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