OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Monilophytes (ferns): Leptosporangiate Ferns (true ferns): Polypodiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Polystichum acrostichoides   FAMILY Dryopteridaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polystichum acrostichoides   FAMILY Dryopteridaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Polystichum acrostichoides

SYNONYMOUS WITH The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014)

Polystichum acrostichoides

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Polystichum acrostichoides var. acrostichoides

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Polystichum acrostichoides var. lonchitoides

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 2 (1993)

Polystichum acrostichoides

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 011-05-001:

Polystichum acrostichoides   FAMILY Aspidiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)

Polystichum acrostichoides

 

COMMON NAME:
Christmas Fern


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_poac4_001_lvd

        

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_poac4_005_lvd

        

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Emily B. Sessa    ebspacrostichoides_3084

March        

Pinnae oblong-lanceolate and short-stalked, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Jerry Bright    jeb_031508_071

March    Aiken County    SC

Savannah River Bluffs Heritage Preserve

Fiddleheads scaly and stout, with silvery white scales, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    jkm0403c_31

March    Oconee County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District

Sterile fronds and nonfertile portions of fertile fronds evergreen, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Emily B. Sessa    ebspacrostichoides_7908

April        

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    jkm080420_005

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    jkm150406_068

April    Greenville County    SC

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    jkm150406_070071

April    Greenville County    SC

Scales dense, light brown, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    jkm200415_3890

April    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

Margins bristle-toothed, per Field Guide to the Ferns and Other Pteridophytes of Georgia (Snyder & Bruce, 1986).

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Mark A. Musselman    mam_christmasfern041408

April    Dorchester County    SC

Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest

An interesting "hug".

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Stephanie C. Brundage    scb_041421hayesville01

April    Clay County    NC

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Stephanie C. Brundage    scb_041421hayesville05

April    Clay County    NC

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Stephanie C. Brundage    scb_041421hayesville09

April    Clay County    NC

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Emily B. Sessa    ebspacrostichoides_9245

May        

A distinctive lobe on pinna's upper side, like the toe of a Xmas stocking, per Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America.

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Emily B. Sessa    ebspacrostichoides_9270

May        

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Emily B. Sessa    ebspacrostichoides_9277

May        

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Gill Newberry    gn05_sori_christmas_fern

May        

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    jkm160505_510

May    Jackson County    NC

Is this the only fern whose fiddlehead arches backward before fully opening???

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    jkm200505_4656

May    Spartanburg County    SC

Round sori and peltate indusia are briefly "golden beads & silver trumpets!", per Dan Whitten.

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    jkm210523_0752

May    Greenville County    SC

Ashmore Heritage Preserve

Fertile pinnae are constricted, widely spaced, and confined to leaf apex, per Ferns of the Smokies (Evans, 2005).

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

JK Marlow    s000615_g

June    Greenville County    SC

Creekside/Riverside

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Keith Bradley    kab_p_acrostichoides_8280

October    Calhoun County    SC

Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve

Sori nearly cover the underside of fertile pinnae, per Ferns of the Smokies (Evans, 2005).

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Sharleen Johnson    shj_555882285965706

December    Charleston County    SC

Francis Marion National Forest

image of Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas Fern

Tim Spira    tpspacrostichoides

Month Unknown        

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Polystichum acrostichoides   FAMILY Dryopteridaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polystichum acrostichoides   FAMILY Dryopteridaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Polystichum acrostichoides

SYNONYMOUS WITH The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (Diggs & Lipscomb, 2014)
Polystichum acrostichoides

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Polystichum acrostichoides var. acrostichoides

INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Polystichum acrostichoides var. lonchitoides

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 2
Polystichum acrostichoides

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 011-05-001:
Polystichum acrostichoides   FAMILY Aspidiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Ferns of the Southeastern States (Small, 1938)
Polystichum acrostichoides

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1133

Fern/Fern ally
Perennial

Habitat: Moist to dry forests and woodlands, especially slopes, ravines, and small stream bottomlands, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Evergreen
Pinnate
Leaves clustered at tip of rhizome

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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