|                    Virginia chain fern
                      |  
              
                |                    Woodwardia virginica  
                      |  
              
                |                    Blechnaceae 
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                 Landscape Uses:
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                 Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.  Also an accent groundcover in shady, wet areas. | 
               
                Ecological Restoration Notes:  | 
               
              
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                | Availability: | 
               
              
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                 Available at native plant nurseries in central Florida. | 
               
              
                | Description: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Medium to large herbaceous fern. | 
               
              
                | Height: | 
               
              
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                 Typically 2-4 feet in height.  Spreading from underground stems (rhizomes) and forming patches. | 
               
              
                | Growth Rate: | 
               
              
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                 Moderate. | 
               
              
                | Range: | 
               
              
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                 Eastern and central United States west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade and Collier counties. | 
               
              
                | Habitats: | 
               
              
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                 Swamps, marshes and wet hammocks. | 
               
              
                | Soils: | 
               
              
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                 Seasonally wet to moist, moderately well-drained to poorly-drained organic soils. | 
               
              
                | Nutritional Requirements: | 
               
              
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                 Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive. | 
               
              
                | Salt Water Tolerance: | 
               
              
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                 Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water. | 
               
              
                | Salt Wind Tolerance: | 
               
              
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                 Low; salt wind may burn the leaves. | 
               
              
                | Drought Tolerance: | 
               
              
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                 Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought. | 
               
              
                | Light Requirements: | 
               
              
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                 Light shade. | 
               
              
                | Flower Color: | 
               
              
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                 N/A. | 
               
              
                | Flower Characteristics: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 There are no flowers; the plants reproduce by spores. | 
               
              
                | Flowering Season: | 
               
              
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                 Summer-fall. | 
               
              
                | Fruit: | 
               
              
                |   | 
                 Inconspicuous spores. | 
               
              
                | Wildlife and Ecology: | 
               
              
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                | Horticultural Notes: | 
               
              
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                 Can be grown from division, and from spores with difficulty. | 
               
              
                | Comments: | 
               
              
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