Japanese name: クサソテツ（草蘇鉄） Scientific name:Matteuccia struthiopteris
[Overview]
A summergreen fern found in mountain grasslands and damp places, often growing in colonies.
The rhizome consists of erect stems and creeping stems; the erect stem is massive, 2–9 cm across, and bears tufted leaves.
The leaves are of two kinds, sterile leaves and fertile leaves.
The petiole of the sterile leaf is 8–25 cm long and straw-colored; the scales are lanceolate and black to blackish brown.
The sterile leaves are pinnate, obovate to obovate-lanceolate, 50–150 cm long and 15–60 cm wide.
There are many pinnae, deeply pinnately divided, and the lower pinnae gradually become smaller.
The petiole of the fertile leaf is 12–30 cm long.
The fertile leaves are pinnate, narrowly oblanceolate, 15–35 cm long and 3–7 cm wide.
There are many pinnae, shallowly pinnately divided, rolling toward the underside to enclose the sori.
The sori are arranged in 2–3 rows on both sides of the pinna axis.
[Uses]
The spring shoots are eaten as a wild vegetable under the name Kogomi.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
It prefers sun to partial shade and fertile soil that retains moisture well.
It dislikes dryness.
Water if sunny weather continues in summer and the soil dries out.
