Bracken fern fact sheet – gurgi | Field of Mars EEC

What are bracken ferns?

Bracken ferns are native perennial ferns that grow from long creeping underground stems called rhizomes. The scientific name of the bracken fern found in New South Wales is Pteridium esculentum. Bracken ferns have stiff, broad triangular fronds that grow from the ground. Young fronds are bright green and tightly coiled, while mature fronds become darker and firmer. The undersides of older fronds have fine hairs and may carry spore-producing structures along the edges.

Bracken ferns grow as ground cover and understorey plants in many bushland habitats, including open forest, eucalypt forest, shaded gullies, roadsides and disturbed areas. They are common in parts of New South Wales and can form dense patches in suitable conditions. At Field of Mars Reserve, bracken ferns help create low, sheltered vegetation in parts of the forest understorey.

A bracken fern.

Bracken fern fronds grow from the ground as bright green triangular leaves.

Where do bracken ferns grow?

Bracken ferns grow in many temperate parts of Australia, including the coastal areas, tablelands and some slopes of New South Wales. They are found in open forest and cleared land, where they can form dense patches connected by underground rhizomes. They can also grow in a wide range of well-drained soils, from neutral to strongly acidic soils.

In Sydney bushland, bracken ferns often grow in eucalypt forest, shaded gullies, slopes and disturbed areas where there is enough light for new fronds to grow. In places such as Field of Mars Reserve, they form part of the ground cover and understorey layers beneath taller trees and shrubs.

Bracken ferns often grow in shaded gullies and forest understorey at Field of Mars Reserve.

How are bracken ferns used by Aboriginal Peoples?

Bracken fern is recorded as gurgi in some Sydney language records. Some Aboriginal Peoples in the Sydney region used bracken fern for food and medicine. Ferns were gathered in summer and autumn when the fronds were mature, allowing new shoots to grow again in winter.

The starchy underground rhizomes were used as a food source, but only after careful preparation and cooking to remove toxins. Rhizomes could be roasted and chewed to extract the starch, or beaten into a paste and baked into a type of bread. Sap from young, juicy frond stems was also rubbed onto insect bites to help relieve stinging and itching, and was used to help deter leeches from attaching.

Bracken fern contains toxins and should not be eaten, chewed or used as medicine during fieldwork. Students should observe the plant, learn its features and understand its cultural importance.

Bracken fern is known as gurgi in some Sydney language records.

What animals use bracken ferns?

Dense bracken fern fronds can arch over the ground and create a cool, shaded microhabitat. Small invertebrates can shelter among the fronds, stems and leaf litter below. Small reptiles, frogs, birds and mammals may also use dense bracken patches as cover while moving through the understorey.

Some plant-eating animals may browse ferns as part of a varied diet, but bracken fern is toxic to livestock and is not a safe food plant for people or domestic animals. Its most important role in bushland is usually as shelter, ground cover and habitat structure rather than as a major food source.

Swamp wallabies may use dense ground cover for shelter.

What is the life cycle of bracken ferns?

Bracken ferns are perennial plants, which means the plant can live for many years. New coiled fronds grow from underground rhizomes, usually emerging in spring. As the fronds grow, they unfurl, expand and become firmer and darker. In many areas, older fronds die back in autumn while the rhizomes remain alive underground.

Coiled young bracken fern fronds unfurl as they grow.

Bracken ferns do not reproduce with flowers, fruit or seeds. Instead, they produce tiny spores in structures called sori, which form along the underside edges of fertile fronds. When conditions are suitable, spores are released and carried by wind. If a spore lands in a moist, sheltered place, it can begin the next stage of the fern life cycle.

Sori on the underside of a bracken fern frond hold the spores used in fern reproduction.

What adaptations do bracken ferns have to help them survive?

One of the most important adaptations of bracken ferns is their underground rhizome system. Rhizomes are horizontal underground stems that can store energy and produce new shoots. This helps bracken ferns survive dry periods, disturbance and damage to the fronds above ground.

Bracken ferns can also resprout after fire because the rhizomes are protected beneath the soil. Their spores can travel by wind, helping them reach new areas, and their dense fronds can shade the ground. In some disturbed places, these adaptations allow bracken ferns to spread quickly and form dense patches connected by underground rhizomes.

Bracken fern can resprout from underground rhizomes after disturbance such as fire.

Why are bracken ferns important?

Bracken ferns are important in bushland because they help form the ground cover and understorey layers. Their fronds provide shade and shelter for small animals, while dead fronds add leaf litter to the ground. This leaf litter helps create habitat for decomposers such as fungi and invertebrates.

Bracken ferns also show students how ferns are different from flowering plants. They reproduce using spores, grow from underground rhizomes and can recover after disturbance. However, very dense bracken patches can sometimes crowd out other plants, especially after fire or clearing, so healthy bushland needs a balance of many different plant species.

Bracken fern is one part of a diverse forest understorey.

How can you help bracken ferns?

You can help bracken ferns and other native understorey plants by staying on tracks when walking through bushland. Avoid picking fronds, digging near rhizomes or trampling young coiled shoots. Leave leaf litter, fallen branches and ground cover in place because these provide habitat for small animals and help protect the soil.

Students can also help by learning to identify local native plants, preventing weed spread, cleaning shoes after walking in muddy or weedy areas, and joining supervised bushcare activities. Bracken fern should be observed, photographed and studied, but not eaten or removed from bushland.

Staying on tracks helps protect bracken ferns, young shoots and other ground cover plants.

Related fact sheets

More plant fact sheets

• Plant fact sheets – Explore more native Sydney and NSW plant fact sheets.
• Grass tree fact sheet – Learn about another understorey plant with strong fire adaptations.
• Hairpin banksia fact sheet – Explore a native shrub that supports nectar-feeding animals.
• Old man banksia fact sheet – Learn about a banksia species found in Sydney bushland.
• Scribbly gum fact sheet – Discover a eucalypt that grows in dry Sydney bushland.
• Sydney peppermint fact sheet – Learn about a common eucalypt tree in Field of Mars Reserve.
• Sydney red gum fact sheet – Explore another local eucalypt that provides habitat and food.

Habitats and environments where bracken ferns grow

• Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet – Learn about the local bushland where bracken ferns grow.
• Ground cover habitats fact sheet – Explore the low plants, leaf litter and shelter used by small animals.
• Eucalypt forest fact sheet – Discover the forest habitat where bracken ferns often grow in the understorey.

Animals that use this habitat

• Long-nosed bandicoot fact sheet – Learn about a ground-dwelling mammal that uses dense vegetation and leaf litter.
• Swamp wallaby fact sheet – Explore a herbivorous marsupial that lives in dense bushland.
• Short-beaked echidna fact sheet – Learn about a native mammal that forages through soil and leaf litter.
• Superb fairy-wren fact sheet – Discover a small bird that uses dense shrubs and ground cover for shelter.
• Eastern blue-tongued lizard fact sheet – Learn about a reptile that shelters among low vegetation and leaf litter.
• Eastern water dragon fact sheet – Explore a reptile found near bushland creeks and sheltered vegetation.

Food webs and ecological relationships

• Centipede fact sheet – Learn about a predator that hunts through leaf litter and ground cover.

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