Nephrolepis cordifolia
tuberous sword fern

Non-Native in Florida

Nephrolepis cordifolia is commonly found in moist, shady hammocks, often around old home sites. Boston fern grows throughout the central and southern peninsula, Leon and Escambia counties (Wunderlin, 1999).

Identification: The fronds of Nephrolepis cordifolia grow up to 1 m in height. The petiole are dense, spreading, with pale brown scales. The rachis has hair-like scales on the upper surface with distinctive bases much darker than the scales. The pinnae are 4.8 cm long, .9 cm wide, and typically attached <1 cm apart. The bases are often overlapping the rachis. Most are straight but sometimes slightly curved with blunt tips. The basal lobe on the upper facing edge overlaps the rachis above and the lower portion of the next pinnae and is glabrous. The indusia are kidney-to-crescent-shaped to rounded-triangular. Lastly, tubers may or may not be present.

For more information and pictures about Boston fern, as contained in the Langeland/Burks book, Identification & Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas, download this Acrobat .PDF file.
To purchase the book, visit the IFASBOOKS web site (Publication # sp 257) or call 1-(800)-226-1764.

For more information about Nephrolepis, download this UF/IFAS-EDIS publication, Natural Areas Weeds: Distinguishing Native and Non-Native "Boston Ferns" and "Sword Ferns" (Nephrolepis spp.) by K.A. Langeland.

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.