<p>Kīlau, Kīlau pueo, Paiʻā, or Bracken fern
Subspecies is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands
ʻAiea Loop Trail, Oʻahu
</p><p>Bracken has been used throughout in many cultures around the world. The fiddlehead (immature unfurled fronds) are bitter but used fresh, cooked, or preserved by pickling, salting, or sun drying. For example, in Korea, called gosari, they are used in bibimbap, or gosari-namul, a sauteed side dish; and as a vegetable dish in Japan, called wasari.
</p><p>Native Americans pound the rhizomes in making a stachy flour for bread; and in Japan used a starch to make confections. 
</p><p>In Hawaii, kīlau is collected and use in wasari. But "because bracken fern has cancerous properties and a nerve poison, it should be eaten infrequently and in moderation." 
</p><p>A substitute for bracken, is the Vegeatble fern (Diplazium esculentum), naturalized in Hawaii, and often called hōʻiʻo in local markets. Hōʻiʻo can be prepared the same way as bracken, but "is not known to have these anti-nutritional qualities so it can be eaten freely." The species name esculenta is Latin for edible, alluding to the use of this fern for food.
</p><p>Bracken has been used as fodder for animals, but it can injure or poison them. So it often used as litter in animal pens.
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<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Pteridium_aquilinum_decompositum">nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Pteridium_aquilinum_de...</a>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/50823119@N08">David  Eickhoff</a> from Pearl City, Hawaii, USA
CC BY 2.0
<p><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/4763345720/">Pteridium aquilinum subsp. decompositum</a>
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