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Nephrolepis cordifolia var. cordifolia

Common Name: sword fern

Family: Nephrolepidaceae

Common Synonyms: none

USDA Hardiness Zone: 8b-10b

Growth Habit: Forb/Herb

Origin: Unknown

FISC Category: 1

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: Earliest Florida specimen available vouchered in 1933

IFAS Assessment:

  • North: INVASIVE
  • Central: INVASIVE
  • South: INVASIVE
Tuberous sword fern in shaded forest understory.
Brenda Herring
Tuberous sword fern growing epiphytically on the Hwy 98 overpass at the main entrance to Hurlburt Field, Mary Ester, FL.
B Herring

Description

Wood fern that typically grows in woodland areas. Both fertile and sterile fronds are pinnate, up to 3 feet in length and 3 inches wide. There are many leaflets, or pinnae, ranging from 40-100 mm (1.5 to 4 inches) on each side of the rachis. Each pinna is oblong to lanceolate with an auricle that overlaps rachis. Rhizomes are orange/brown to pale brown with linear scales having hair like tips. Stolons are straw colored and produce small underground tubers. The presence of tubers distinguishes sword fern from the native Nephrolepis exaltata fern. Numerous sori (spore containing structures) are also produced between the leaflet midvein and margin.

Habitat

Wet hammocks, usually on limestone or around old homesites and disturbed places, sometimes epiphytic.

Comments

NA

Map of species distribution

Control Methods

  • Manual: NA
  • Chemical: Glyphosate 41.0% L/2,4-D
  • Biological: NA

Control Notes

NA

References

http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-profiles/http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-profiles/ accessed 13 June, 2017

http://davesgarden.com accessed 13 June, 2017

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500798

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