Close Braken

This is a Braken growing from a very old crown. I'm told that some crowns can be hundreds of years old which might account for it's height. I'm 5'5" in my stocking feet and this is taken at eye level.

now that is a tall fern. i've never seen one that big.

Deb it's just a jungle out here ;) Thank goodness they don't all get that big!

Wow, it's beautiful! Here the biggest ferns we grow outdoors are ostrich ferns; if grown well the fronds can get to about 5' high, but the crown stays on the ground. Not evergreen, either :(

The closest thing we have to that are some types of understory trees that freely sucker -- staghorn sumac, haw, etc. They put up new shoots sometimes 20-30 feet away from the main trunk, sometimes inches away to form dense undergrowth. I would prefer the bra(c)ken. Prettier.

By the way, is the New Forest still owned by the Royal Family? Fascinating history, but how is it handled now? I am sure they no longer keep it for hunting purposes, so do they allow it (if they still own it) to be used in other ways?

The Crown gave the land back to the people of the NF in Medieval times. However, it didn't end there and there is Crown and common land on the Forest, it's quite a complex history, which is by no means all in the past. If you want to plough through some of it then here's a good site.

http://www.newforestassociation.freeserve.co.uk/newf.htm

The Braken isn't evergreen either, it pops up fairly early in Spring and dies about October time. I still wouldn't recommend growing it although, I agree, the plant pictured is a magnificent specimin.