General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Small to medium herbaceous fern relative.
Dimensions: Typically 10-18 inches in height. Usually taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Eastern and central United States west to Texas and south to Broward County and the Monroe County mainland; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Old World. Very rare in Broward County, where know only from the Snake Creek/Miramar Pineland Natural Area.
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 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: Summer-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous spores.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from spores.
Comments: It is listed as commercially exploited by the state of Florida.
