One Hell of a Plant that Could Help Save the Planet
Ciara Shannon considers the multiple carbon opportunities of bracken including its potential as an alternative to peat, its carbon storage, its role as a feedstock for bioethanol, it being a marker of ancient woodlands and where to replace it with new woodlands.
“To place it in perspective as succinctly as possible, bracken is one hell of a plant". I.A. Evans (1987)
I’d not considered bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) much until recently and I’ve since been amazed by the power of its ropey rhizomes and their brazen ways. I've also been curious about bracken's carbon saving opportunity and wondered about the old saying: ‘Copper under heather, silver under gorse, gold under bracken’.
