Pteridium esculentum

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Monilophytes > Polypodiales > Dennstaedtiaceae > Pteridium esculentum

Other links:    

Plant  information

Common name:         Bracken   

• Also, Austral Bracken or Common Bracken

• The Eora people of the Sydney region knew it as gurgi

Conservation status: Least concern

Etymology:   

• Esculentum means edible

Spores:                            

Leaves:         

• The fronds are stiff with a brown stripe

• They are large, roughly triangular and grow to 0.5–2 m

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

• It grows from creeping rhizomes, which are covered with reddish hair

Habit:        

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• The genus is native to a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere

• It is found in all states of Australia apart from the Northern Territory

• Also in  New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Malaysia, Polynesia, and New Caledonia

• Within Victoria it is widespread and common to altitudes of 1,000 m

• In NSW, it occurs across central, eastern and southern parts of the state

• It can also be weedy and invade disturbed areas

• In Western Australia, it grows near the southern and western coastlines, as far north as Geraldton

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • First described as Pteris esculenta by German botanist Georg Forster in 1786

  • It gained its current binomial name in 1908

• Ecology

  • It is very quick to colonise disturbed areas and can outcompete other plants to form a dense understorey

  •  It is often treated as a weed

  • It creates a humid sheltered microclimate under its leaves

  • It is food for a variety of native insects:

    • Two species of fruit fly (Drosophila) were recorded in a field study near Sydney

    • Another study near Sydney yielded 17 herbivorous arthropods (15 insects and two mites)

    • Notable for the lack of Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies) and beetles

• Uses

  • The Māori of New Zealand used the rhizomes of Pteridium esculentum (aruhe) as a staple food, especially for exploring or hunting groups away from permanent settlements; much of the widespread distribution of this species in present-day New Zealand is in fact a consequence of prehistoric deforestation and subsequent tending of aruhe stands on rich soils (which produced the best rhizomes)

  • The rhizomes were air-dried so that they could be stored and became lighter; for consumption, they were briefly heated and then softened with a patu aruhe (rhizome pounder); the starch could then be sucked from the fibers by each diner, or collected if it were to be prepared for a larger feast. Patu aruhe were significant items and several distinct styles were developed

  • Aborigines in Australia ate the roots after they were pounded into a paste and roasted

  • Pteridium esculentum contains the known bracken carcinogen ptaquiloside

    • Concentrations of ptaquiloside in bracken in New Zealand vary greatly, and in a high proportion of stands ptaquiloside is not found

    • A higher incidence of ptaquiloside, and some very high concentrations, are found in areas where bovine enzootic haematuria and/or acute haemorrhagic syndrome was known to occur.

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pteridium_esculentum (2023)