Hay-scented Fern is an aggressive native fern that forms extensive colonies in disturbed eastern forests, often excluding other vegetation where deer browsing pressure is high (deer avoid this fern but eat competitors). Crushed fronds smell pleasantly of freshly cut hay. It provides ground cover in open woods from Nova Scotia to Georgia.
Habitat
Open forests, hillsides, roadsides, and disturbed woods in eastern North America
Diet
Dense ground cover for small mammals; spores dispersed by wind
How common
Common
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