Pteridium aquilinum

There are two subspecies of bracken fern in NY state. Native throughout the state, P. aquilinum ssp. latiusculum is the one native to the Finger Lakes. It is found in forests, fields, roadsides and similar edge habitats. More common in acidic soils. Bracken fern spreads rhizomatously and is one of the very few ferns not protected in NY State as vulnerable to exploitation.