Habitat:
Bracken fern is found in acid soils in both older forests and in new pine forests, especially those frequently burned. It is also found in abandoned pastures and along forest margins.

Size/Form:
Bracken fern has stiff, upright, branching fronds that grow from creeping and forking underground rhizomes. It grows up to 4½' tall and has triangular-shaped fronds.

Stem:
The stiff stem has alternate branches from the rhizome. It is often branched into three fronds. The base is dark brown and slightly hairy, becoming straw colored and hairless toward the tip.

Fronds:
Bracken fern fronds branch once or twice, giving the appearance of compound leaves. The deciduous fronds have many spatula-shaped leaflet-like segments with the margins rolled under. The leaves are 8" to 23" long and 8" to 23" wide. The leaflet-like segments are 1/2" to 3" long and 1/8" to 1/4" wide, becoming shorter toward the end of the frond stems. There is a longer terminal segment that may be slightly hairy underneath.

Reproduction:
Ferns reproduce by spores and bracken fern's spores form as clusters along the margins on the underside of leaflets. The spores are dispersed by wind usually after a fire or disturbance.