Plant Name

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Asplenium ceterach (Syn. Ceterach officinarum)

Common Name

Rusty-back Fern

Fern Type

The Spleenworts.
 

Soil

Chalk, Limestone.

Sun Aspect

Part Shade

Soil Moisture

Dry

Plant Type

Terrestrial Evergreen Fern

Height x Spread in feet

0.5 x 0.7

Foliage Colour and Shape/ Division

Yellow-green, leathery and the underside is densely clothed with silvery brown scales. Pinnatifid shape. Less than 12 inches long.

Frond Length

2-8 inches

Comment

Erect Form. Native from the UK to the Pyrenees.

A dwarf fern which grows in rock crevices and frequently naturalizes the mortar in old walls. It is very drought resistant so that it can be grown in a small pot with moist-dry, basic potting mix or in a limestone rock garden. An Organic mulch is very beneficial.

See Rusty-back Fern in the Wildflower Gallery.

Available from World of Ferns, who also sell Ferns for use in Sunny, Partial Shade or Shady Locations as well as Tree Ferns.

See Ferns in Britain and Ireland or the British Pteridological Society for further details and photos.

Use of Fern

• Suitable for Terrariums
• Ferns found on Limestone or Basic Soils (Calciphiles)