Hul’q’umi’num: se’uq
SENĆOŦEN: SŦXȺLEM
Diitiidʔaaʔtx̣: bibeʔtkkwapt
Latin: Blechnum spicant
Photo Credits: Marek Mejstřík
Description: SŦXȺLEM is a medium-sized, evergreen fern that grows in tufts from short rhizomes. It has two kinds of fronds. The sterile fronds are evergreen and leathery, up to 1 m long, and spread close to the ground. They have purplish-brown stalks and 35–70 pairs of oblong leaflets. The fertile fronds are similar but grow upright from the centre of the clump, have much narrower leaflets and die back each year.
Photo Credits: Julia Bent
Harvest and Sustainability: It grows in moist to wet forests, along stream banks, and sometimes bogs. Important winter food for deer.
Photo Credits: Urban Jungle
Uses: Bibeʔtkkwapt is a great spring fiddlehead.
Young leaves were chewed as hunger suppressant. Also used as medicine for skin sores.
