Product Description
Polystichum acrostichoides Bare Root Plants
Common Name: Christmas Fern, evergreen fern, stocking fern
- Height: 12-24 Inches
- Spread: 12-24 Inches
- Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Part Shade to Shade
- Evergreen
- Native to Eastern U.S.
- Clumping habit
- Sword shaped, leathery fronds
- Tolerates dry to moist soil
Polystichum acrostichoides, commonly known as Christmas fern, is a perennial, evergreen fern that is native to eastern North America. It is a member of the Dryopteridaceae.
Christmas ferns grow to a height of 1-2 feet in a clumping habit. Leathery, lance-shaped fronds are up to 18 inches long. The fronds are dark green in color and have a sword shape appearance. The name "Christmas fern" derives from the evergreen fronds, which are often still green at Christmas. Young fiddleheads in spring have a silver sheen.
Easy to grow in organically rich, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in part shade to full shade. Ideal location is light shade and moist acidic to slightly alkaline soil. Clumps expand by rhizomes but will not spread by rhizomes.
Evergreen through the winter, Christmas Fern has been used for Christmas decorations, as the pinnae looks like small Christmas stockings.
Use in mass plantings for erosion control, as border plants, along foundations and walls. Do not trim old fronds until they turn brown. Tough and adaptable Christmas Fern is a native fern that can be found on wooded slopes, banks and ravines throughout the eastern United States. Leaves can be used in cut flower arrangements.