Dryopteridaceae

Description

A tufted, evergreen perennial fern from a stout, short, scaly, upright to short-creeping rhizome which grows in moist, coniferous woods in open- to deep-shaded areas.

At a glance

• Plant Type: Fern.
• Distribution: This plant grows from British Columbia to Mexico, east to Montana, with disjunct populations in South Dakota and Baja California. This plant grows on both sides of the Cascades crest, and at the coast in Washington.
• Height: This plant grows 8 to 59 inches (20 to 150 cm) in height.
• Leaves: Dry, scaly stipes are produced in dense crowns. The once-pinnate blade is lance-shaped and upright to arching. The leaflets are alternate, pointed, and sharp-toothed, and have incurved spine-tips. Each leaflet has a small lobe pointing forward at the bottom.
• Sori: The sori are large and circular, and grow approximately halfway between the mid-vein and the margin. The indusium is round with fringed margins and centrally attached. Spores light yellow in color are produced.
• Notable features: Individual fronds can live for 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 years and remain attached to the rhizome after withering. This species is sporadic to scattered on water-shedding sites, and plentiful to abundant on water-receiving and colluvium (material which accumulates at the foot of a steep slope) sites which are enriched by surface flow of fine organic materials. This species is also widely cultivated as an ornamental and the leaves are harvested for use by florists. The fiddleheads (immature leaves or fronds that unfurl in spring) are covered in fine silky, brown hairs.
• Synonyms: Aspidium munitum and Polystichum munitum var. munitum

Restoration and Conservation

Many mammals rely on sword fern throughout Washington State. Elk, black-tailed deer, mountain beavers, mountain goats, and black bears eat the fronds (leaves). Sword ferns provide nesting and cover for many birds, deer, and small mammals. Black bears will even collect fronds and use them for bedding in dens for winter hibernation.

Ethnobotany

Many Pacific Northwest tribes (including the Chehalis, Hesquiat, Makah, Quileute, and others) have eaten the rhizomes as a food source (boiled, baked, and steamed). The basal leaves and rhizomes have been steamed and eaten as a food source. An infusion of stems have been used as a wash to treat skin sores. The fiddleheads have been chewed as a cancer treatment. The raw plant has been chewed and eaten to treat sore throats or tonsillitis. A poultice of spore sacs from the leaves (fronds) have been used as a burn dressing. A decoction of roots has been used as a dandruff wash. The fronds have been used to line pits when baking camas or wapato (Sagittaria latifolia), or in steaming pits. The fronds have been used as mats for cleaning and drying fish, the placement of food, and spread on racks for drying berries. The fronds have been tied with maple bark and used as mattresses.

References

• CNPS Calscape: https://calscape.org/loc-California/Polystichum%20munitum%20(Sword%20Fern)?newsearch=1
• E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia. Available from: https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Polystichum%20munitum
• Hitchcock CL, Cronquist A. Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An illustrated manual. 2nd ed. Giblin DE, Legler BS, Zika PF, Olmstead RG, editors. Washington, D.C., DC: University of Washington Press; 2018. Pages 63-64.
• Native American Ethnobotany Database: http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Polystichum%20munitum&page=1
• Oregon State University Dept. of Botany & Plant Pathology - OregonFlora. https://oregonflora.org/taxa/garden.php?taxon=7561
• Pojar, J and MacKinnon, A. 1994. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska. Vancouver (BC): Lone Pine Publishing.
• Starflower Foundation Image Herbarium and Landscaping Pages, 2007.
• University of Washington-Bothell, The North Creek Wetland: https://www.uwb.edu/wetlands/plants/polystichum-munitum
• WTU Image Herbarium: https://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Polystichum%20munitum 

Page Editors/Authors

• Gerald B. Stanley
• Sarah Verlinde

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