Other Common Names: Southern Woodfern, Florida Shieldfern

Scientific Name: Dryopteris ludoviciana

Native to Alabama: Yes

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Alan Cressler
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• I am a non-woody vascular plant, so I am a fern.
• I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous.
• I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial.
• I can grow 2 – 4 feet high and 2 – 3 feet wide.

• Dormant in winter.
• Fronds can be cut for an indoor vase.
• Dead plants can be cut back in early spring before new growth emerges.
• When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds. Water should reach all roots.
• Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves.
• Requires moist to wet soil at all times.

Part Sun/ Shade
(2-6 hours of sun per day)

Shade
(Less than 2 hours of sun per day)

• Ferns reproduce by spores rather than seeds.
• Spores are contained in cone-like spore cases at the ends of the stems.
• The spores are dispersed by the wind.
• When the spores land on a damp surface, they grow into small male and female structures.
• Finally, when fertilization takes place, the plant will grow to form the visible stems used to identify the horsetail plant.