Where does bracken fern grow? An analysis of the latest production area distribution

Bracken fern, also known as fist vegetable, cat's claw, dragon-head vegetable, etc., is a perennial deciduous herbaceous plant of the Pteridaceae family. Its edible part is the unexpanded young leaf buds, and it prefers to grow in sunny plots in low mountain areas. It is widely distributed in mainland China and Southeast Asia, and in these regions it is also welcomed on the dining table. Now let us take a look at where bracken fern grows!

Where does bracken fern grow?

Bracken fern prefers to grow in sunny plots in low mountain areas, and is mostly distributed in sparse coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests. Its edible part is the unexpanded young leaf buds and the relatively tender upper section of the stem. The stem is thick and plump, and the leaf stalk is straight and upright, often reaching about 60 cm tall. In spring, when the tender leaves have just emerged and are still curled and unexpanded, people pick them for eating. It is widely distributed in mainland China and Southeast Asia, and in these regions it is also welcomed on the dining table.

Where are the production areas of bracken fern distributed?

1. Hebei: Chengde bracken fern is a famous wild vegetable in Hebei Province. The Chengde area covers more than 33,000 hectares, distributed in Longhua, Fengning, Pingquan, Kuancheng and other places.

2. Liaoning: Bracken fern is distributed in the mountainous areas of Liaoning Province, especially in the eastern mountainous areas where it is widely distributed and abundant. It is exported to Japan and other countries and regions, and is also very popular in the domestic market.

3. Inner Mongolia: Bracken fern is distributed throughout Inner Mongolia, but the main production areas are in Chifeng City, Hinggan League and other places, with an annual output of about 200 tons. The local picking period is in June.

4. Jilin: Bracken fern is distributed in the mountainous areas of Jilin Province, with high output. It begins to appear on the market around May each year, is mainly exported to South Korea, and also sells very well domestically.

5. Heilongjiang: Bracken fern is distributed in high mountain zones at an altitude of 200 to 800 m, mostly growing mixed with weeds. It emerges in mid-May and is harvested from late May to early June.

6. Guizhou: Bracken fern is very widely distributed. In fact, ferns are most widely distributed and most diverse in Guizhou, among which the local picking period for bracken fern is from mid-March to August.

7. Hunan: Bracken fern can be found on mountains in Xiangyin, Miluo, Zhangguying and other places. Spring is the picking period for bracken fern, and after about June the bracken has formed and grown large and can no longer be eaten.

8. Ningxia: Bracken fern is more widely distributed in Guyuan and Yuzhong County in Gansu and other places, with the bracken fern in Zhang County being especially higher in quality, and there is also a large distribution in Taihe Mountain and Hasi Mountain in Jingyuan County.

What common types of bracken fern are there?

1. Long-pinnule fern: The long-pinnule fern is a special species, tall in form, with broad leaves, and with very many long linear sessile pinnae spreading at right angles from the rachis, which makes it stand out extremely among the various species of this genus. This species is somewhat close to Pteridium aquilinum and its Asian varieties, but the pinnae are up to 20 cm long, long linear, spreading at right angles, and the ultimate segments are also relatively long, linear-lanceolate, with acute tips and more or less crenate sides.

2. Edible fern: The edible fern plant is about 1 m tall, with a long and creeping rhizome. The fronds are distant, and the blade is oblong-triangular, with an acuminate apex and a broad cuneate base, tripinnate, alternate, stalked, slightly spreading upward, oblong-lanceolate, with a long acuminate apex and a short tail-like tip, and the base nearly truncate or cordate, with the basal pair not shortened. It is distributed in southwestern Guangxi, Hainan, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia and other places.

3. Pteridium aquilinum: The Pteridium aquilinum plant can reach up to 1 m tall, and the leaves are divided into many lobes, growing on smooth black stems. After the plant grows up, the stem becomes very hard, and the young buds can be eaten. It is produced throughout the country, but mainly in the Yangtze River basin and areas to the north, and is also distributed in subtropical regions. It grows in sunny places on mountain slopes and at forest edges, at an altitude of 200 to 830 m, and is also widely distributed in other tropical and temperate regions of the world.

4. Sickle-pinnule fern: The sickle-pinnule fern plant reaches up to 2 m tall, with a creeping rhizome. The fronds are papery when dry, dark green, hairless above, and sparsely covered with light gray-brown soft hairs along the main veins below. The veins are dense, ascending, visible above and obvious below. The rachis and pinna rachis are both smooth, and the pinnule rachis is nearly smooth, all with 1 deep longitudinal groove above, hairless within the groove, straw-colored. Its form is close to Pteridium aquilinum, and it is endemic to eastern Guangxi (Hexian), growing in sunny places on mountain slopes.

5. Hairy-rachis fern: The hairy-rachis fern plant reaches more than 1 m tall, with a creeping rhizome. The fronds are distant, straw-colored or brown straw-colored, and the blade is broadly triangular or ovate-triangular. It mostly grows in the provinces and regions south of the Yangtze River, and is produced in Taiwan, China, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Xizang. It grows in sunny places on mountain slopes or in forest clearings in sparse valley forests, and is called “rice fern” in the Yibin area of Sichuan.

6. Yunnan fern: The Yunnan fern plant is about 1 m tall, with a thick leaf stalk, the upper part light straw-colored, hairless. The blade is ovate-triangular, quadripinnatifid. The basal pinnae are the largest, oblong-triangular, with an acuminate apex and a broad cuneate base, opposite, spreading obliquely, with a long stalk, about 28 cm from the pair above. Tripinnatifid, with about 20 pairs of first-order pinnules, opposite or nearly opposite, flat or spreading obliquely. It is endemic to western Yunnan (Yingjiang), at an altitude of 1450 m.