Fern · Osmundaceae
Cinnamon fern
Osmunda cinnamomea · includes its varieties and subspecies
Cinnamon fern is recorded as native to 31 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,136 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Cinnamon fern at a glance
- Native in
- 1,136 counties, across 31 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 4.9 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Cinnamon fern is recorded as native to 31 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,136 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,136 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 56 counties
- Arkansas 51 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 57 counties
- Georgia 102 counties
- Illinois 27 counties
- Indiana 40 counties
- Kentucky 43 counties
- Louisiana 29 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Maryland 15 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Minnesota 33 counties
- Mississippi 29 counties
- Missouri 12 counties
- New Hampshire 9 counties
- New Jersey 21 counties
- New York 61 counties
- North Carolina 66 counties
- Ohio 45 counties
- Pennsylvania 66 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 32 counties
- Tennessee 61 counties
- Texas 34 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 99 counties
- West Virginia 28 counties
- Wisconsin 71 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 4.9 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 40 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Orange
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Osmundaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- OSCI
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Osmunda cinnamomea (PLANTS symbol OSCI), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources