在Fiddlehead fern 條目下,The fiddleheads of certain ferns are eaten as a cooked leaf vegetable。自所以這樣稱呼,原因是剛出土的蕨菜嫩芽的頭部像小提琴的頭部。從另一個角度看,嫩芽的頭部剪影輪廓線是一個非常漂亮的漸開線。上面的話顯然不是說所有的Fiddlehead fern 都可食。在此條目下,羅列了若干種蕨類的名字。
查可食用的蕨類,得到這樣的結論:三種蕨類可食用:Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, found worldwide (Health Warning);Ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, found in northern regions worldwide, and the central/eastern part of North America (Health Warning);Lady fern, Athyrium filix-femina, throughout most of the temperate northern hemisphere。這三種可食的蕨菜里,只有最後的lady 蕨菜沒有被列入健康性警告。據說鬼子常吃蕨菜,並且有人把蕨菜和鬼子多發的胃癌聯繫起來了。