Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Diplazium esculentum - Vegetable-Fern, Paco Fern
![](https://images.echocommunity.org/43b1f7a7-e846-48b7-9a7f-f7a5bebbc5b6/thumbnail.jpg?w=400)
Edible Portion: Fronds, Leaves, Vegetable
A large fern with an upright stem. It forms tufts. It is only woody near the base. It can be 1 m high and 1 m wide. It usually grows as a large clump. It spreads by underground runners. They have feather like fronds which are 50 to 80 cm long and divided 2 or 3 times. The leaf stalks are black near the bottom. The secondary leaflets are pointed at the tip. The end sections of the leaf are many, about 8 cm long and 1 cm wide. The leaflets are notched like a saw and about 2 to 5 cm long.