This evergreen perennial fern is native to eastern North America from Florida and eastern Texas north to Nova Scotia and west to Minnesota where it grows in shady woodlands, stream banks, and rocky slopes. It is a member of the wood fern family, Dryopteridaceae, a family that includes about 1700 species. The plants grow 1-2′ tall and slowly forms clumps 1-2′ wide and composed of about 20 fronds. The fronds are coiled and have white scales when they emerge as crosiers in early spring but are leathery, dark green and 12-32″ long when mature. Each frond is supported by a dark brown to black stem-like structure (stipe) that carries 20-35 pairs of leaflet-like pinnae that are up to 2″ long and have a thumb-like lobe at the top and fine double toothed (serrulate) margins. Groups of brown spores (sori) almost cover the underside of the pinnae in the upper 1/3 to 1/2 of the fertile fronds. Fertile fronds are longer than sterile fronds and die back in the winter. Plants are tolerant of drought and shade and are a good choice for woodland and shade gardens as well as for erosion control. The genus name, Polystichum, comes from the Greek words polys meaning many and stichos meaning a row, and refers to the arrangement of the spore cases (sori). The specific epithet, acrostichoides, comes from the Greek words akros meaning terminal, and stichos meaning a row and refers to the the terminal placement of the spore cases (sori) on the pinnae.
Type: Perennial evergreen fern
Bloom: None
Size: 1-30″ H x 1-2′ W
Light: Part to full shade
Soil: Average, medium moist to dry, well-drained
Hardiness: Zones 3-9
Care: Remove dead fertile fronds in late winter
Pests and Diseases: Generally healthy but may develop crown rot in poorly drained soil
Propagation: Division
Companion Plants: Hosta, epidmedium, helebore
Photo Credit: Wikipedia