Like all plants, ferns produce oxygen and collect carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide food and shelter for other organisms. Ferns also produce soil and reduce soil erosion, creating an ecosystem for other plants to grow. Some ferns, like the Ostrich fern , are harvested as food. The rhizomes of the Bracken fern are harvested to use their long fibres and as food. More than 75 species of fern occur in Ontario.
Resemble cedar leaves.
Dry to moist sandy to silty areas in coniferous and mixed forests. Return to List Southern ground cedar growing in juniper moss. Wet ground in woods, shore, ditches. 20,2001 Return to List Sensitive fern fertile leaves. The brown fertile leaves persist into the winter.