A common fern species (Matteuccia struthiopteris) whose young fiddleheads are eaten as a wild vegetable in Japan.
In spring, we go to pick young ostrich fern shoots.
Ostrich fern is popular as a wild edible plant.
Katakana spelling is common for this plant name and matches usual-kana usage.
Kanji spelling is rare; the plant is almost always written in kana.
The name クサソテツ literally means 'grass cycad', referring to the fern's resemblance to the cycad plant (ソテツ). The exact historical derivation is uncertain.