Bracken (Pteridium or Pteris aquilinum)
Folk Names: Bracken Fern, Brake, Brake Fern, Eagle Fern, Female Fern, Fern of God (Ireland), Fiddleheads, Fiddlenecks, Hog Brake, King Charles in the Oak Tree (England), Pasture Brake
Description: Bracken is a very common fern, often found growing in large colonies. It is found in every part of the globe, except for the extreme north and south. The deep rhizomes survive fires, and ashes make the soil more alkaline, a favorable condition for bracken. The creeping, horizontal rhizome root is about half an inch thick. It is dark and scaleless, and occasionally hairy. The stems are erect and tree-like. They are velvety at the base, and very brittle at first, growing tough and wiry with time. Ordinarily they are two to three feet high, but in ideal conditions, they may grow to a height of eight to ten feet. The nearly vertical, dark green fronds are heavy and leathery. Bracken is easily recognized by its large, triangular fronds. The fronds separate into three major divisions, each cleft pinnately once or twice, with narrow lobes not reaching to the midrib. The leaflets are oblong with blunted narrow tips, while the lower leaflets subdivide into sub-leaflets. The leaflets grow more or less opposite of one another. The spore dots along the under edge of leaflets are silvery at first, then dark brown.
Effects: strong
Planet: Sun, Mercury, Saturn, Venus Zodiac Aries, Gemini
Element: air
Associated Deities: Laka, Puck
Traditions:
When cut diagonally at the base, the lower portion of the stem is supposed to show a pattern or figure of an eagle. For this reason, Linnaeus gave it the name Aquilina, and its genus, Pteris, comes from pteron, “feather,” from the feather appearance of the fronds. The word fern is also an adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon fepern, meaning “feather.”
Traditionally, bracken spores are gathered before midnight on Midsummer's eve using a forked Hazel rod. The fronds are shaken so the spores fall on white cloth. In France, the seed is believed to radiate a golden light when gathered thus. In Austria, the spores are gathered at Yule.
If you find yourself in a fern covered spot at midnight and there are no sounds, it is said Puck will appear and give you a purse of gold. When this is done intentionally, it is known as "watching the fern."
Magic:
Bracken fronds are included in vases of flowers for protection. It may also be planted by a door or grown indoors. Bracken protects from lightning. Dried fern may be burnt to exorcize evil spirits and drive off snakes, gnats, and other “noisome creatures.” “Firing the bracken,” that is, setting it on fire, is said to bring rain. The stem is used for protection, healing, and fertility, while the root under your pillow will reveal the solution to a problem in your dreams.
Break the first fern found in spring for luck, and bite a frond to guard against toothache until next year. Fern sap confers eternal youth and is supposed to keep death away when drunk. Just make sure you have the right plant if you try this!
Carry some of the bracken “seed” or place it in your shoe for invisibility. You may also cast spores on water before scrying. Three grains of fern spore will help you summon any living creature. In France, Russia, Switzerland, and the Italian Alps, the spores are held in the hand to help find buried treasure, while in the Tyrolean Alps and Bohemia, bracken “seed” is said to keep savings from dwindling.
Known Combinations:
none noted
Medical Indications: Parts used:
Culpepper suggested this type of fern was good as a vermifuge, that is, a plant to dispel the body of parasites, specifically worms.
Nutrition: (Caution: it's possible to confuse fiddleheads with emerging poisonous hemlock)
Very young bracken is edible. Take four to ten, young, curled fronds (also called fiddleheads) and rub off the fuzz. Cook until tender in salted water and serve with butter. The taste has been compared to asparagus and hollandaise sauce may be poured over it. In Japan, fiddleheads are considered a delicacy. There, the young fronds are wash carefully in freshwater, then plunged into boiling water for two minutes. Then they are placed in cold water again for a couple of hours, after which they may be used in cooking.
In Siberia and Norway, the open fronds are used in brewing a type of beer.
It is said in some islands in the Canary group, the bracken root is ground to powder and mixed with barley meal. This is considered a famine food however, suitable only for the very poor. Native Americans were also said to boil and eat the root. American pioneers soaked the roots in water and wood ash for twenty-four hours before preparing them, and also cooked the fronds as potherbs.
Mercantile Uses:
The roots and young shoots of bracken with chrome makes a yellow dye. With alum and chrome, the dye takes on a greenish tinge, and copperas make a gray dye.
Before the introduction of soda from sea salt and other sources, alkali from bracken ash was used in glass making. The ash also contains enough potash to be suitable for soap making. In the East, it was boiled with tallow for this purpose. The ashes were also mixed with water and made into balls. These were made hot in fire and used to make lye for scouring linen. The amount of potash yielded by bracken also makes bracken ash suitable as a fertilizer for potatoes and sugar beets, especially in light, gravelly, or sandy soils.
Both the green and dried bracken was formerly used as cattle fodder. Dried, it is suitable as thatching. The fronds are used as packing material for fruit, and the dried fronds can be used as insulation in the garden to protect young plants.