Fiddleheads 2026

Goldie's Wood Fern

This is a fiddlehead you are not likely to see, but if you do, you will know what it is! This is the fiddlehead of Goldie's Wood Fern (Dryopteris goldiana), the largest wood fern in our region. The blade or leaf alone can be over 40" long (Chadde, Northeast Ferns 2023). Similar in size to the Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris). In addition they are dramatic for their dark brown scales on the stem as well as on the fiddleheads from the time they start to emerge. This is not a dainty little fiddlehead like Maidenhair (Adiantum pedatum) or medium-sized like the other local wood ferns Evergreen (Dryopteris intermedia) or Marginal (Dryopteris marginalis). Goldie's are much larger. Boughton Cobb (Field Guide to the Ferns, 1963) calls it "the giant of our woodferns". In fact, in the Guide to Eastern Ferns by Wherry (1948), the author uses the common name of "Giant Woodfern". Wherry describes the habitat as "shaded rocky slopes...and cool moist woods...and usually circumneutral soil".

There are so many beautiful fiddleheads popping up now, and some, such as the Ostrich ferns, have already developed into fronds. It seemed to be a very short season for the Ostrich fiddleheads this year. That hot spell sent them shooting up in record time. Many fiddleheads are really cool looking in various stages as they develop into new fronds. I hope to get some photo pages out before long, but in the meantime you can check the many pages of fiddlehead photos (labeled of course) in the "Fern Photos Selection" folder under "Downloads" on this website.

Our next Fern Walk will be Sunday May 10th, Mother's Day, at Chard Pond in Sunderland. See our Calendar page for details. Lots of ferns, and wildflowers too.

Happy Ferning!

Posted: to PV Fern News on Thu, Apr 30, 2026
Updated: Fri, May 1, 2026