| Scientific Name: | Matteuccia struthiopteris |
| Common Name: | ostrich fern |
| Family Name: | Onocleaceae |
| Origin: | Europe, U.S. - northeast |
| Hardiness Zone: | Zone 3: (-40 to -34 °C) |
| Plant Type: | Fern |
| Mature Size: | 0.7 - 1.3m x 0.6 - 1.0m (height x width) |
| Habit: | Arching, Upright |
| Form: | Vase |
| Texture: | Medium - fine |
| Landscape Uses: | Container planting, Filler, Ground cover, Group or mass planting, Herb, Mixed shrub border, Waterside planting, Wetland - bogs, Woodland margin |
| Exposure: | Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade, Deep shade |
| Soil or Media: | Bog, Humus rich, Well-drained |
| Leaves: | Compound, Fern-like, Basal, Leathery, Glabrous, Odd-pinnate, Lanceolate, Dentate |
| Flowers: | |
| Fruit: | Sporangium (spores), Brown, Aug, (Persistent) |
| Key ID Features: | |
| Fern vase-shaped, sterile fronds 80-180cm long, pinnules ~1cm long x 4mm wide, delicate and feathery, with a soft, airy texture reminiscent of ostrich feathers, bright green in spring; fertile fronds 30-60cm tall, tightly rolled and bead-like, reddish-brown, persistent. | |