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 Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
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.
