General Landscape Uses:
Specimen or accent groundcover in moist to wet sites.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A fairly common element of freshwater marshes and prairies.
Availability:
Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.
Description: Medium herbaceous fern.
Dimensions: Typically 3-4 feet in height. Usually as broad as tall.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Widespread in eastern and central North America west to Texas and south to Broward and Collier counties; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Old World. Very rare in Broward County.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Swamps and marshes.
Soils: Wet, poorly-drained organic soils.
Nutritional Requirements: High; requires rich organic soils for optimal growth.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade or moderate shade.
Flower Color: N/A.
Flower Characteristics: There are no flowers; the plants reproduce by spores.
Flowering Season: Spring.
Fruit: Inconspicuous spores.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from spores.
Comments: It is listed as commercially exploited by the state of Florida.
