Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database

Blechnum spicant (Deer Fern or Hard Fern)

Kingdom Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Division Pteridophyta – Ferns

Class Filicopsida

Order Polypodiales

Family Blechnaceae – Chain Fern family

Genus Blechnum L. – midsorus fern

Species Blechnum spicant (L.) Sm. – deer fern

A fine evergreen native fern, reaching heights of only 12-24."

The low-growing sterile fronds spread horizontally from a basal tuft, while the fertile fronds are thin and deciduous and grow erect, directly from the center of the clump. The specimen at lower right growing in a private garden in Oregon's Willamette Valley is a fine mature example of this growth habit.

A fine native fern, it is found from Alaska to California and inland to Idaho, USDA zones 4-8. It likes moist, acidic soil.

The young leaves of this fern were chewed by Hesquiat hunters and travelers as a hunger suppressant. 

The common name may reflect the fact that this plant is an important browse for deer and elk. It may also be traced to a Native belief that Deer fern has medicinal properties, knowledge gleaned from observing deer rub their heads against the plant after they lose their antlers.