Polypodium appalachianum
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- pol-ee-POH-dee-um ap-uh-lach-ee-AY-num
- Description
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Appalachian rockcap fern is a native evergreen mat-forming fern in the polypody family (Polypodiaceae). Its origin is in eastern Canada and the eastern USA. The species epithet is Latin and means “Appalachian.”
This is a small fern that grows in deep shade. Soil should be moist but have good drainage and an acidic pH.
Appalachian rockcap fern occurs in moist, rocky areas at high and low elevations. It has an epiphytic habit in the Smoky Mountains. Leaves emerge in a rosette from a creeping rhizome, and the plant can reach a height and width of 1 foot. The dense mats it forms help secure organic material, particularly on barren rocky surfaces. This plant looks very similar to Polypodium virginianum, but a key identifier of this plant is that its leaf blade is widest at the base. This plant is sensitive to heat.
Use this fern in a native shade garden, along a rock slope, or in the understory of a woodland garden.
Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No serious problems. Watch for Florida Fern Caterpillar.
VIDEO Created by NC State Extension's Homegrown series featuring Mark Weathington, Director of JC Raulston Arboretum.
- Profile Video:
- See this plant in the following landscape:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Polypodium
- Species:
- appalachianum
- Family:
- Polypodiaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Perennial
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Eastern Canada and U.S.A.
- Dimensions:
- Height: 0 ft. 6 in. - 1 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 0 ft. 6 in. - 1 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Fern
- Herbaceous Perennial
- Native Plant
- Habit/Form:
- Creeping
- Maintenance:
- Low
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Deep shade (Less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight)
- Soil Texture:
- Shallow Rocky
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Moist
- Available Space To Plant:
- Less than 12 inches
- 12 inches-3 feet
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Description:
- No fruits. This plants reproduces via spores.
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Flowers:
- Flower Description:
- No flowers.
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Leaves:
- Leaf Type:
- Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
- Fronds
- Leaf Shape:
- Lanceolate
- Oblong
- Pinnatifid
- Leaf Margin:
- Crenate
- Denticulate
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- > 6 inches
- Leaf Width:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Lobed pinnafid fronds that are oblong to lanceolate with margins widest at the base reaching up to 15" long and 3 1/2" wide. Pinnae have entire to slightly dentate margins and rounded tips. Yellow maturing to brown sori are kidney or round shaped and found on all but the lowest pinnae.
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Stem:
- Stem Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Description:
- Golden brown stems with whitish powdery bloom on the surface. Margins are toothed.
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Slope/Bank
- Woodland
- Landscape Theme:
- Native Garden
- Rock Garden
- Shade Garden
- Attracts:
- Songbirds
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Deer
- Heavy Shade
