General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Small to medium herbaceous fern relative.
Dimensions: About 6-18 inches in height. Stems creep along the ground forming large patches broader than tall.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Widespread in eastern and central North America west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade and Collier counties. Presumed extirpated in Miami-Dade County; perhaps extirpated in Broward County; Cuba.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Wet pinelands, prairies and margins of swamps.
Soils: Wet to moist, poorly drained acid sandy soils, sometimes with some peat accumulation.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows 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: Full sun.
Flower Color: N/A.
Flower Characteristics: There are no flowers; the plants reproduce by spores.
Flowering Season: Fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous spores.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from spores.
