General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Large herbaceous fern.
Dimensions: About 3-4 feet in height. Spreads from underground stems and forms large patches.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Miami-Dade and Collier counties north to Brevard, Lake and Levy counties; disjunct in Liberty and Franklin counties; Louisiana; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America and Old World.
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 hammocks and swamps.
Soils: Seasonally wet to moist, moderately well-drained to poorly-drained organic soils.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
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.
Flower Color: N/A.
Flower Characteristics: There are no flowers; the plants reproduce by spores.
Flowering Season: All year.
Fruit: Inconspicuous spores.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from spores with difficulty, and division.
