Ostrich fern (Matteucia stuthiopteris) 
Gitxsan name: damtx or demtx (meaning fiddleheads)
Wet'suwet'en name: unknown
Botanical Description
- sterile fronds numerous, clustered, erect and spreading, up to 2 metres
tall
- fertile fronds numerous, clustered, rigid, erect , shorter than sterile
ones, up to 75 cm tall
- turning dark brown, dark green to black at base
- sterile blades are lance-shaped, tapering at both ends; fertile blades
are oblong
- found in moist to wet forests along major streams and rivers, edges of
swamps
- locally abundant at low elevations in region
Photo courtesy of Jim Pojar (50kB)
Ethnobotanical Use
This species produces the largest, tastiest and safest to eat of all the
fiddleheads. The short shoots were boiled, baked or eaten raw with grease in the early
spring when they were only two to six inches tall.
This digital collection was produced under contract to the SchoolNet
Digital Collection Program, Industry Canada.
Revised: 08/21/98
