English: Bracken fern; Austral bracken; Bracken.
Region: Southern Hemisphere.
Name: esculentum means edible.
Synonym: Pteris esculenta.
Eora: Gurgi.
Maori: Aruhe.
Region: Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Malaysia, Polynesia, New Caledonia.
Habitat: rich soils; quick to colonise disturbed areas; altitudes of 1,000 metres.
Content: ptaquiloside, carcinogen.
Ecology: produces bovine enzootic haematuria, acute haemorrhagic syndrome; can outcompete other plants to form a dense understorey; food for native insects and mites.
Uses: rhizomes air-dried for staple food.

BotanyRoot: creeping rhizomes, covered with reddish hair. Leaves: single, large, roughly triangular; 0.5 to 2 metres tall; stiff; with a brown stripe.