SKU: HP00500

Polystichum acrostichoides - Christmas Fern is a native fern which occurs in dry to moist, shady slopes and streambanks. Christmas Fern makes a good evergreen groundcover. It grows in clusters and has glossy, lance shaped fronds. Christmas Fern is very easy to establish and grow in cool, shady, moist conditions. Plant is susceptible to crown rot if planted in poorly, drained soil. This is a good plant for massing along shady slopes, including dry, rocky slopes, to provide soil stabilization. Christmas Fern will not spread but clumps will increase in size over time. Plant can be propagated by root division.

Height: 1-2 feet
Spread:1-2 feet
Zone: 3 to 9
Soil type: Moist, acid, humus-rich soils, Sandy, Sandy Loam, Medium Loam, Acid-based
Soil pH: < 6.8
Light: Part shade to full shade
Moisture: Dryish to moist, well-drained
Flowers: Non-flowering. Silvery, young, fiddleheads appear in early spring
Fruit: None.
Fall color: Evergreen

Wildlife value: Low usage as food by terrestrial birds, according to Forest plants of the southeast and their wildlife uses by Miller and Miller.
Notes of Interest: Used medicinally by Iroquois and Cherokee Indians, fiddleheads used as food by Cherokee Indians.

Distribution
USA: AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WV, WI
Native Distribution: N.S. to extreme s.e. MN, s. to c. FL & e. TX
Native Habitat: Rich, rocky woods; stream banks; dryish slopes ;thickets