Guides / Ferns and mosses

Ferns and mosses

Ancient non-flowering plants with delicate fronds and pads.

Illustration of a Boston fern

B

Bracken
Pteridium aquilinum
How to identify and control bracken, Pteridium aquilinum. The commonest fern in the world, the carcinogen in the spores, and why bruising the fronds is the trick.
DifficultPoisonous if eaten

F

Field horsetail
Equisetum arvense
How to identify and control horsetail, Equisetum arvense. The prehistoric weed with roots two metres deep, why weedkillers slide off it, and what does help.
DifficultToxic to horses if eaten