• Fiddleheads: emerges in spring, covered in a light wool that is quickly lost
• Fronds: 20 to 40 inches long, once compound, elliptic to oblong outline, tapering at both ends, leaflets; toothless, deep lobes, divided almost to mid-nerve, blunt at tip, forked lateral veins on underside
• Spores: Bead-like capsules containing spores attach to stalk(s) growing in the middle of a leaf
• Fruiting season: Summer
• Height: 20-40 inches
• Habitat: open moist woods, swamp edges