Zone:  3-7  Perennial
Growth:  60-90cm [2-3ft] tall & somewhat wider (here, in Nova Scotia, larger elsewhere); from a domed crown, leaf fronds emerge and uncoil (when tight coils, these are the "fiddleheads") to flare out into a graceful vase shape; spreads by stolons (on or just below the ground surface) to form dense colonies
Foliage:  Deciduous (fronds collapse and die into a mulch in fall and winter); medium green, finely divided sterile fronds arch out like ostrich tail feathers; late summer central, erect, spike-like, dark brown spore bearing fronds persist through winter
Light:  Part to full shade
Moisture: Low to average
Soil:  Average to organically rich; moist but well drained
Garden location: Woodland; lushly ornamental along paths and as an understory to trees