Pteris vittata

Common Name: Chinese brake fern

Family: Pteridaceae

Common Synonyms: none

USDA Hardiness Zone: 8a-11

Growth Habit: Forb/herb

Origin: Africa, Asia Temperate, Asia Tropical, Australasia, Europe, Pacific

FISC Category: 2

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: Earliest Florida specimen available vouchered in 1927

IFAS Assessment:

• North: OK
• Central: INVASIVE
• South: INVASIVE

Description

To distinguish brake fern from a native fern, the swamp fern, Blechnum serrulatum, brake fern has spores that form lines along the edge of each pinnae. The fronds of brake fern are dark green and divided only one time. The fertile fronds form sporangia on the lower surface on the fronds.

Habitat

Grows on calcareous substrate in disturbed settings, notably grows in pinelands in South Florida, although it is found throughout Florida.

Comments

Prefers to grow on limestone. Escaped from cultivation and is now widely naturalized. Pteris vittata varies in size, density of scales on the rachis, presence or absence of hairs on the abaxial costae, and overall color and aspect of the leaf. As a result, it may occasionally bear a resemblance to forms of P. delchampsii (W. H. Wagner & Nauman), the hybrid between the threatened Bahama ladder brake, P. bahamensis, and P. vittata. Bahama ladder brake has fronds that are more upright, brighter green, and thinner. The presence of abortive spores is the best distinguishing character of P. delchampsii, although a few spores can be fertile. While the hybrids do not interbreed, back-crosses with the parents are possible.

Control Methods

• Manual: Mechanical: Mowing or pulling the fronds, can reduce spore production and reduce fern populations. Rouging small, isolated patches may also be cost-effective. (IFAS)
• Chemical: Glyphosate 41.0% L/2,4-D
• Biological: NA

Control Notes

NA

References

Langeland, K.A., H.M. Cherry, C.M. McCormick, K.C. Burks. 2008. Identification and Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas-Second Edition. IFAS Publication SP 257. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

IFAS. 2017. Chinese Brake fern, Pteris vittata. https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/pteris-vittata/. Accessed June 13, 2017.

Wunderlin, Richard P., and Bruce F. Hansen. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. 3rd ed. Gainesville, FL: U of Florida, 2011.