1. New World fern having woolly cinnamon-coloured spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds; the early uncurling fronds are edible
   "They harvested the young fiddleheads before they unfurled";
   - cinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, Osmunda cinnamonea
    
2. Tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes
   "They harvested the young fiddleheads of the ostrich fern in spring";
   - ostrich fern, shuttlecock fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Pteretis struthiopteris, Onoclea struthiopteris

Derived forms: fiddleheads

Type of: fern, flowering fern, osmund

Part of: genus Matteuccia, genus Pteretis, Matteuccia, Pteretis

Encyclopedia: Fiddlehead