General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also a large accent groundcover in moist to wet areas. Identified by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden as a native that does especially well in shade in this
brochure.
Availability:
Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.
Description: Large herbaceous fern.
Dimensions: Typically 6-8 feet in height. Spreading from horizontal stems (stolons) and forming large masses.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland north to Martin, Highlands and Lee counties; Louisiana; West Indies, Mexico, Central America, South America and Old World.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Moist hammocks and swamps.
Soils: Moist to seasonally wet, well-drained to poorly-drained sandy, limestone, or organic soils, with humusy top layer.
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 divisions or spores.
Comments: It is listed as threatened by the state of Florida.
