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Christmas Fern
It typically grows in a fountain-like clump to 2' tall and features leathery, lance-shaped, evergreen (green at Christmas time as the common name suggests) fronds. Crosiers (young fiddleheads) in spring are silvery and scaled. These plants serve as hosts for butterfly larvae. This fern does not spread but the clumps increase in size over time. Sori appear on the undersides of the pinnae only at the ends (last 1/3) of the fronds. Christmas ferns are asymmetrical with a fine texture and has a moderately dense crown. The Christmas Fern, Polystichum acrostichoides, occurs in both dry and moist wooded slopes, moist banks and ravines. The evergreen fronds provide good winter interest for the landscape. Stocking shape of the pinnae also suggests Christmas. ... get more information
Sensitive Fern The foliage may depreciate as summer progresses in hot climates, particularly if soils are not kept moist. It is commonly called sensitive fern because the green vegetative fronds are sensitive to and suffer almost immediate damage from the first fall frost. This deciduous perennial fern is also sensitive to drought. Some shorter, erect, woody-like fertile fronds (to 12" tall), typically brown up in late summer and persist throughout the remaining season and winter. Also appropriate for shaded areas of a native plant garden or naturalized planting. It features long-stalked, deeply pinnatifid, bright green, vegetative (sterile) fronds (2-4' long) with leathery, triangular leaflets (pinnae) which have distinctively netted veins. Sensitive Ferns can grow up to 4' tall. It performs best in wet woodland gardens and moist locations along streams and ponds. It is best not to remove dead fronds until spring, because they provide protection for the crowns over the winter. The Sensitive Fern, Onoclea sensibilis, is a large, somewhat coarse deciduous fern which occurs in wet woods and thickets and in moist soils along streams and springs. |
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