🐾 sensitive fern

Onoclea sensibilis · wildlife atlas entry

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Onoclea sensibilis , the sensitive fern , also known as the bead fern , is a coarse-textured, medium to large-sized deciduous perennial fern. The name comes from the observation by early American settlers that it was very sensitive to frost, the fronds dying quickly when first touched by it. It is sometimes treated as the only species in Onoclea , but some authors do not consider the genus monotypic. Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.

sensitive fern — reference photo from iNaturalist — (c) Laura Clark, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Laura Clark · cc-by

Record card

Scientific name	Onoclea sensibilis
Rank	species
Community observations	116,576 research-grade records on iNaturalist

Classification

kingdom Plantae › phylum Tracheophyta › class Polypodiopsida › order Polypodiales › family Onocleaceae

Seen in the wild — community photographs

sensitive fern photograph by the iNaturalist community — 2026-10-23 · The Arboretum - University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CA
(c) Gabe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · cc-by-nc

sensitive fern photograph by the iNaturalist community — 2026-06-27 · Wellesley, MA, USA
(c) mniotilta, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · cc-by-nc

sensitive fern photograph by the iNaturalist community — 2026-10-23 · Old Vestals Gap Rd, Sterling, VA, US
(c) Azaria Panni, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · cc-by-nc

sensitive fern photograph by the iNaturalist community — 2024-07-10 · Hancock, ME, US
(c) maggief, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA) · cc-by-nc-sa

sensitive fern photograph by the iNaturalist community — 2026-10-23 · Heritage Farm Ln, Sterling, VA, US
(c) Azaria Panni, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · cc-by-nc

sensitive fern photograph by the iNaturalist community — 2026-10-23 · Sweet Apple Tree Ln, Salisbury, MA, US
(c) Jula, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · cc-by-nc

sensitive fern photograph by the iNaturalist community — 2026-10-23 · Madison Blvd, Madison, AL, US
(c) cartersaul, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · cc-by-nc

sensitive fern photograph by the iNaturalist community — 2026-10-23 · Green Kinyon Driftway, Narragansett, RI, US
(c) daniel863-_-, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) · cc-by-nc

Photographs are Creative Commons-licensed observations from iNaturalist, credited as each licence requires. Click any photo for the full research record.

All sensitive fern records on iNaturalist → · Encyclopedia entry (Wikipedia) →

Data: iNaturalist open API · stored on this server by the wildlife build so a page request never reaches the network · observations filtered to research grade with photos.

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