Christmas fern

Serves as a larval host plant primarily for the moth species Herpetogramma sphingealis (the Christmas fern-exclusive moth) and the serpentine webworm moth.

Christmas fern is a rhizomatous, densely scaly-scruffy, evergreen herbaceous perennial in the polypody family (Polypodiaceae). It is native to a wide area of eastern North America, from Canada to northeastern Mexico. The species epithet is Latin for “like Acrostichum,” which is a genus of tropical ferns in the ribbon-fern family (Pteridaceae).

It is best grown in organically rich, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in part shade to full shade. This fern spreads very slowly, and its clumps will increase in size over time.

Christmas fern grows as rosettes in rich rocky woods, along stream banks, in swamps or thickets. The fern produces black spores on the underside of the leaf, but not all fronds are fertile. The fertile fronds are narrower at the tip. Curled fiddleheads of new leaves emerge silvery in the spring.

In mass plantings, it makes an excellent plant to combat soil erosion on slopes. It can be grown in a woodland area, or in native, shade or winter gardens. It provides winter cover near the ground for songbirds who also use parts and scale-like hairs in nest construction. (From North Carolina Extension)