Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn

Pteridium aquilinum, commonly called bracken, brake, pasture brake, common bracken, and also known as eagle fern, is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. Originally native to Eurasia and North America, the extreme lightness of its spores has led to it achieving a cosmopolitan distribution.

Source: Wikipedia

Synonyms 47

Allosorus acutifolius, Allosorus aquilinus, Allosorus capensis, Allosorus coriifolius, Allosorus hottentottus, Allosorus lanuginosus, Allosorus recurvatus, Allosorus tauricus, Allosorus villosus, Asplenium aquilinum, Cincinalis aquilina, Cincinalis gleditschii, Cincinalis lanuginosa, Cincinalis villosa, Eupteris aquilina, Filix aquilina, Filix-foemina aquilina, Filix-foemina vulgaris, Onychium capense, Ornithopteris aquilina, Paesia aquilina, Paesia coriifolia, Polypodium austriacum, Pteridium brownseyi, Pteridium capense, Pteridium ceheginense, Pteridium centraliafricanum, Pteridium decompositum, Pteridium falcatum, Pteridium feei, Pteridium heredia, Pteridium herediae, Pteridium japonicum, Pteridium lanuginosum, Pteridium latiusculum, Pteridium lineare, Pteridium pinetorum, Pteridium pseudocaudatum, Pteridium pubescens, Pteridium revolutum, Pteridium tauricum, Pteridium yunnanense, Pteris aquilina, Pteris borealis, Pteris brevipes, Pteris coriifolia, Pteris densa

1,086,620 GBIF occurrences
161,698 iNaturalist observations

Conservation status code

Conservation: status label

Least Concern

Conservation: population trend

Increasing

Conservation: year assessed

2017

IUCN Red List page

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/73691742/85427115

Habitats

IUCN: population narrative

The plants of this species usually form big stands covering large terrain. It can be very invasive but this is often a result of vegetative spread rather than sexual reproduction. The population trend is increasing.

IUCN: habitat narrative

Bracken often grows in deciduous and coniferous woodlands and parklands, coppices, on slopes, in glades, on heathlands, steppes, along forest edges and in meadows. It is often found in dry sandy soil, usually acidic, and sometimes calcareous (Komarov 1968, Page 1997). It can also be a weed in gardens (M. Christenhusz pers. comm. 2016) and it grows on masonry (particularly juvenile plants) in cities (F. Rumsey pers. comm. 2016). The species benefits from fire to spread. Its elevation limits are 0 - 2,000 m.

IUCN: threats narrative

This is a resilient and widespread species without any threats.

IUCN: conservation narrative

Bracken is widespread and often occurs in abundance, easily colonizing new areas especially after fire. In Malta it is listed as Endangered, as it is only known from one site on Gozo island (Lanfranco 1989). However, elsewhere it is very common and not of conservation concern. It is present in protected areas throughout its range.

IUCN: rationale

European regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)EU 28 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)Bracken is a widespread, common, fern with resilient subpopulations. It has an increasing population trend and there are no threats the species. It is therefore assessed as Least Concern.

Related species

Gallery

Tailed Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum pseudocaudatum)

eagle fern (Pteridium aquilinum latiusculum)

Hairy brackenfern (Pteridium aquilinum pubescens)