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.