Common name: Bird's Nest Fern
Family: Polypodiaceae, Polypody
Height x width: 5' x 3' but generally smaller indoors
Growth rate: slow
Fronds: ovate to lance-shaped, entire, glossy bright green fronds, thin and often translucent, arise in "nest" shape from central point
Sori: parallel lines of sori on undersides angled forward away from midrib towards margins
Light: bright to moderate
Temperature: cool to average
Watering: well-watered
Fertility: low
Humidity: humid
Soil: organic, well-drained
Pests and Problems: bacterial leaf diseases, foliar nematode, scales (often common), mealybugs; dryness and cold cause leaf edges to turn brown
Growth habit, uses: foliage indoors for larger spaces, humid
Other interest: popular houseplant due to shape and attractive fronds; native widely in tropical areas; part of a large fern genus of speenworts, with other similar "bird's nest" type species such as antiquum
Other culture: often grows epiphytically on bark or other substrates
Propagation: spores, division
Cultivars:
Usually just found as a species, although some cultivars exist such as 'Fimbriatum' with notched leaves.
Return to Perry's
Perennial Pages | PSS121
course
