Rattlesnake Fern

The rattlesnake fern is a low-growing fern of the adder's-tongue family Ophioglossaceae, typically under a foot tall, found widely across the United States, in the mountains of Mexico, in Australia, across parts of Asia including the Himalayas, and in scattered European locations such as Norway and Finland. Its soft-textured, bright green leaf is divided three to four times and carried on a stem that is pinkish or tan at the base and greenish near the branches. It grows in rich, moist woods in dense shade and will not tolerate direct sun, and its common name comes from its habit of growing in places where rattlesnakes are also found.