Bracken

Description:

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is a conspicuous fern that forms large clonal colonies in a variety of habitats. The large, more or less triangular leaves develop from fiddleheads that develop widely spaced along the branches of an extensive subterranean rhizome that may reach nearly 400 m in length.

Habitat:

Growing beside road on Mt. Lemmon near ski slopes.

Notes:

Most of the patch was dry and brown, but this plant was just sprouting.