Identifying and managing Bracken

Discover the essentials of Pteridium aquilinum, or Bracken, a prevalent but toxic plant within the Dennstaedtiaceae family.

This brief guide highlights Bracken’s significant growth, its aggressive spreading habits primarily through rhizome expansion, and its diverse habitats across the UK, especially in upland areas. Learn about the challenges Bracken poses to ecosystems, humans, and livestock.

For a deeper dive into its ecology, management strategies, and distribution, download our detailed factsheet available on this page. Get informed and stay ahead in managing this competitive plant species effectively.

Scientific name: Pteridium aquilinum

Perennial plant (herb) in the Bracken family (Dennstaedtiaceae)

Long-lived (perennial), polycarpic (flowers many times) competitive dominant.

Plant poisons (phytotoxins) contained in the plant are toxic to humans and livestock and may be toxic to other native plant species (allelopathic).

How does Bracken grow and spread?

• Reaches up to 2-5m tall in full growth.
• Spreads mainly by direct rhizome (root) expansion and vegetative (asexual, clonal) dispersal via fragments of plant material created by human activities (e.g. agricultural practices) and natural disturbance processes (e.g. animals). Rarely, spread occurs via sexually produced wind-dispersed spores (sporangia).
• Growth in waterlogged soils is limited.
• UK distribution still increasing in upland areas.

Where does Bracken grow?

Common habitats where Bracken is found include:

• Woodland
• Heath
• Moors
• Agricultural areas (hill pasture)
• Waste Ground
• Roadsides
• Railway embankments and cuttings
• Rivers and other watercourses (riparian habitats)
• Cliffs and sand dunes (rare)