Now that spring is here, bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) has been popping up everywhere. Over the winter, the plant turned brown and all but disappeared, but now it’s re-emerging from an extensive ...

Bracken Ferns are rising on the higher mountains of San Diego County, their bright green, unfolding fronds (called “fiddleheads”) pushing up through the russet remains of last year’s growth. By late ...

Ferns are not a very popular food item for the animal kingdom. Compared to the herbivorous insects on flowering plants and conifers, relatively few insects eat ferns. One estimate is there is about ...