Index / Search / Osmunda claytoniana

§1 Plant

Osmunda claytoniana L.

vernacular interrupted fern — species · Osmundaceae


USDA
OSCL2
GBIF
9684539 syn.
Rank
species
interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana)
Platephotograph · V.S. VolkotrubCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Fern
Family
Osmundaceae Martinov
Genus
Osmunda
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§2b

County-level range

· 655 counties across 26 states/territories
Legend Native · 655 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Low
Moisture use
High
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
110 min.
Precipitation
32–55 in/yr
pH range
4–6
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
High
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
4 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Dark Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Brown
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Summer
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Propagation
cuttings, container, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 655 counties across 26 states/territories.

Arkansas view state ↗ 2 N
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N
Georgia view state ↗ 8 N
Illinois view state ↗ 43 N
Indiana view state ↗ 27 N
Iowa view state ↗ 5 N
Kansas view state ↗ 1 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 34 N
Maine view state ↗ 15 N
Maryland view state ↗ 9 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 13 N
Minnesota view state ↗ 44 N
Missouri view state ↗ 20 N
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 19 N
New York view state ↗ 55 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 21 N
Ohio view state ↗ 51 N
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 67 N
Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 24 N
Vermont view state ↗ 13 N
Virginia view state ↗ 60 N
West Virginia view state ↗ 36 N
Wisconsin view state ↗ 70 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/OSCL2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/9684539 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z