• Fiddleheads: emerge early spring on slender, hairless, green to purple-brown stems, as leaves unfurl division of the stem into 3 parts becomes apparent
• Fronds : single compound leaf, appears like a whorl of 3 leaves, leaf is generally triangular in outline, up to 7 inches long and about as wide, with 6 to 10 pair of branches oppositely arranged, lowest pair of branches typically twice compound, triangular in outline
• Spores : groups of spores found on underside of leaf, circular and arranged around the edges of a pinnule, at the tip of a vein, ften merge at maturity, ripen to dark brown, not all leaves have spores
• Fruiting season : Summer
• Height: 4-15 inches
• Habitat : coniferous and mixed forest