General Landscape Uses:
Specimen or accent groundcover in moist to wet sites.
Availability:
Commonly available at native plant nurseries in central Florida. Available at native plant nurseries in northeast 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 Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
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.
Comments: It is listed as commercially exploited by the state of Florida.
