Christmas Fern
Scientific name: Polystichum acrostichoides
Christmas fern is a native fern which occurs in both dry and moist wooded slopes, moist banks and ravines. Typically it grows in a fountain-like clump to 2 feet tall and features leathery, lance-shaped, evergreen (green at Christmastime, as the common name suggests) fronds. Young fiddleheads in spring are silvery and scaled.
Leaves
The evergreen pinnae (leaflets) of Christmas fern are distinctive as they have a lobe that has the appearance of the toe of a Christmas stocking. The fiddleheads are also distinctive, with silvery, white scales.
Flowers
Non-flowering. It reproduces through spores.
Blooming Season
While it has no blooms, it remains green from spring through Christmas!
Habitat
Shade to full shade. It likes the acidic humus-rich soils of our woodlands. Also found near the banks of streams. Rabbit, deer and drought tolerant.
Human Connections
These are available commercially and are a nice addition to a garden as a ground cover or along a border since they last all year long, including winter. And, like all ferns, they are completely deer resistant.
Fiddle Head Fern in Spring.
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