NC Native Plant Society:
Plant Details

Polystichum acrostichoides

Scientific Name:	Polystichum acrostichoides
Genus:	Polystichum
Species Epithet:	acrostichoides
Common Name:	Christmas Fern
Plant Type	Fern/Clubmoss/Allies
Life Cycle	Perennial
Plant Family	Dryopteridaceae (Wood-Fern Family)
Native/Alien:	NC Native
Size:	1-3 ft.
Light:	Part Shade - 2 to 6 hours of sun per day, Less than 2 hours of sun per day
Soil Moisture:	Dry, Moist
Growing Area:	Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain
Habitat Description:	“Moist to dry forests and woodlands, especially slopes, ravines, and small stream bottomlands” (Weakley 2015). Common throughout NC.
Leaf Arrangement:	Basal
Leaf Retention:	Evergreen
Leaf Type:	Fern Frond
Leaf Form:	Nothing Specified
Life Cycle:	Perennial
Wildlife Value:	Has some wildlife value
Landscape Value:	Recommended and Available
State Rank:	S5: Secure ^(*Key)
Global Rank:	G5 - Secure ^(*Key)
Fertile fronds An evergreen fern, common throughout the state. The smaller leaflets in the upper portion of the fronds are fertile and have brown spores on the undersides. Ann Weaver, taken outside of Wake Forest on a north-facing site at the edge of the woods.
Close-up of frond The leaflets have a characteristic lobe at the base and a bristle at the tip of each tooth. Paynter, Wilmington, July, 2014
New frond emerging (fiddlehead) in early April Orange County, NC Bettina Darveaux
Ferns are green in winter since they are evergreen. Orange County, NC Bettina Darveaux
Links:	USDA PLANTS Database Record