A coarse, weedy fern that often forms spreading colonies. Fronds broad, nearly triangular, tilting up and back, with a prominent, network-forming vein. Fiddlehead pale red. In cold climates, the fronds may be deciduous after frost. Sensitive fern dies quickly with the first frost, leaving the erect spikes with their beadlike reproductive structures.
Sensitive ferns are good colonizers, often the first species to grow in a disturbed area.