General Landscape Uses:
Groundcover for wet, shady areas.
Availability:
Available at native plant nurseries in central Florida.
Description: Fern with fronds up to 5 feet long and half foot wide. Usually much smaller.
Dimensions: About 1-3 feet in height.
Growth Rate: Slow to moderate.
Range:
Southeastern United States from Virginia to Texas south to Sarasota, De Soto, and Highlands counties. A population is also present in Collier county.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.
Habitats: Swamps and wet to moist hammocks
Soils: Wet to moist, inundated and poorly-drained to moderately-drained, usually organic soils with acidic pH.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate to high; grows best with some organic content and may languish in nutrient poor soils.
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: Light shade to shade.
Flower Color: N/A
Flower Characteristics: There are no flowers; the plants reproduce by spores.
Fruit: Inconspicuous spores.
References: Wunderlin and Hansen (
2011), Lakela and Long 1976
Comments: We have been adding data for this species for central and northern Florida and welcome any feedback or review. If you would like to contribute information or images, please contact George Gann via the IRC staff page.
