Spring in Vermont’s watersheds: wetland and floodplain plants

Ostrich Fern

From the highest headwater wetlands down to the vast floodplain forests along Vermont’s major rivers, ostrich ferns
(Matteuccia struthiopteris) put down roots.

Like all ferns, which come from an ancient lineage of non-flowering plants, the ostrich fern reproduces not by seeds but by spores. During the winter, the brown, spore-containing fertile fronds poke straight up through the snow.

When the snow melts, the spores of ostrich ferns travel with meltwater. That is why this dramatic, elegant plant occurs in so many parts of our watersheds. In the spring, bright green fiddleheads emerge and unfurl into feathery fronds.

Both the fiddleheads and the fronds are food for larger herbivores (including humans), and the fronds provide cover for smaller mammals and ground-frequenting birds.

Ostrich ferns can handle being submerged during floods; this photo was taken after floods in the summer of 2023. Although floodwaters had flattened the ferns and coated them in silt, there was strong new growth from each mature crown.

Golden Saxifrage

Golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium americanum) forms springy green carpets in groundwater seeps, in seepage forests, and at the edges of swamps, floodplains, and other wetlands in our watersheds.

Because it occurs in association with groundwater that originates below the frost line, golden saxifrage stays green and growing later in fall and earlier in spring than many other plants.

Its round, slightly scalloped leaves provide early cover for small insects, snails, and amphibians.

The early and nutritious greens of Golden Saxifrage sustain mammals, such as bears, emerging from hibernation. The fleshy, slightly bitter leaves are sometimes used as an herb in salads.

Try to spot its tiny, square-shaped flowers in May and June — they are ringed by brick-red clusters of pollen that attract beetles and flies.

Royal Fern

When you see royal fern (Osmunda regalis) spreading its loose, graceful fronds, you know you’re in a wetland.

Its dappled cover shades the understories of swamps, shorelines, and riparian forests throughout New England.

This graceful fern is most colorful in the spring when both the fiddleheads and young fronds boast shades of orange to wine-red blended with greenish brown.

Royal ferns can grow up to six feet tall in consistently moist sites.

Unlike ostrich fern, the spores of royal fern are prominent and visible in brown, crown-like clusters at the tips of the fronds; hence its additional common name ‘flowering fern.’ Fronds typically turn yellow to brown in autumn.

Fiber extracted from the plant’s roots is often found in a growing medium for cultivated orchids.

Toothwort

A member of the mustard family, two-leaved toothwort (Cardamine diphylla) spreads its pale green leaves in small floodplains along streams and in moist, deciduous woodlands throughout eastern North America.

Starting in about April, its delicate four-petaled white flowers nod gently on a single stem that rises above the cluster of leaves at the plant’s base.

Nibbling a leaf is a pleasant, bitter, mustardy spring ritual for some.

This toothwort has co-evolved with the West Virginia white butterfly (Pieris virginiensis), a native species that lays its eggs on the plant.

The butterfly is declining throughout its range due in part to the spread of garlic mustard, an introduced species related to toothwort that can attract the butterflies but is toxic to their larvae.