Old World Climbing Fern Lygodium microphyllum
University of Florida, IFAS, Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants	St. Johns River Water Management District

Old World climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum) is an invasive exotic vine in Florida, native to Asia and Australia. Old World climbing fern is climbing into trees and shading out native vegetation in hundreds of acres in east-central Florida. Old World climbing fern has the ability to "resprout" from almost anywhere along each climbing leaf--yes, leaf. Dense growth of the plant can also be a fire hazard, frequently enabling small ground fires to reach into tree canopies where it can kill the growing branches. Invasive exotics can thus change the effects of physical processes in plant communities.


How To Identify Old World Climbing Fern


Old World climbing fern is a fern with climbing fronds. What looks like a stem is actually a climbing, freely branching, leaf (frond) which may become as much as 100 feet long. The leafy branches off the main stem are 2-5 inches long. Old World climbing fern has two types of leaflets on its climbing leaf. The leaflet with the simple (unlobed) outline is a normal vegetative leaflet. The more convoluted leaflet has sporangia along its margin, which produce spores leading to the development of gametophytes. Gametophytes are separate small plants that produce sexual cells, which unite to form an embryo and ultimately a new climbing fern. This alternating of vegetative and reproductive plants as separate generations is typical of most ferns. The reproductive plants (gametophytes) are usually very small, and rarely seen without considerable detective work.

For more information and pictures about Old World climbing fern, as contained in the Langeland/Burks book, Identification & Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas, download this Acrobat .PDF file.


University of Florida researchers are investigating Lygodium microphyllum's role in Florida ecosystems.


The UF/IFAS Assessment lists plants according to their invasive status in Florida. View the list here.

Click here to see the herbarium specimen image of the UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA HERBARIUM DIGITAL IMAGING PROJECTS.

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