General Landscape Uses:
Specimen or accent groundcover in moist to wet sites.
Availability:
Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.
Description: large herbaceous fern.
Dimensions: About 3-4 feet in height. About as broad as tall.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Widespread in eastern and central North America south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland; West Indies, Mexico and Central America. Not documented on barrier islands in South Florida, but possibly historically present; it grows well at
Pan’s Garden in Palm Beach.
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.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Swamps and marshes.
Soils: Wet, poorly-drained organic soils, acid pH.
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.
References: Nelson 2003
Comments: It is listed as commercially exploited by the state of Florida.
