Giant Chain Fern

The giant chain fern, also called the western chain fern, is the largest fern native to western North America, growing in the chain fern family Blechnaceae from British Columbia through California's Sierra Nevada into Baja California. Its bipinnately compound, leathery fronds reach one to three meters long, with spore clusters arranged in neat chain-like rows on both sides of each leaflet. It grows in moist coniferous forests, canyons, foothills and streambeds, mostly below 1,000 meters elevation though it has been recorded as high as roughly 2,400 meters.