Pteris dentata
An evergreen-to-semi-evergreen fern with lacy, toothed fronds often with golden-toned stems that prefers bright indirect light, high humidity, and warmth, widely sold under many synonyms, and in the genus Pteris with distribution across Africa, numerous Atlantic/Indian Ocean islands, and parts of the Middle East and Asia.
Common Names
Toothed Brake Fern
Summary
Toothed brake fern is a terrestrial fern with an erect to procumbent rhizome; laminae are ovate to elliptic and glabrous, with 1-pinnate-pinnatifid distally and 2-pinnate-pinnatifid proximally, 7–11 pairs of pinnae, longest secondary pinnae 50–125 mm; veins free; sori continuous along margins. Native to Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar, with natural distribution from Arabia to southern Africa and Madagascar, and also on St Helena, Ascension and Cape Verde Islands.
Its habitat is forest-floor shade and growth is terrestrial; altitude up to 1600 m. Very occasionally cultivated, with wild occurrences from deliberate nearby plantings; cold sensitive but once established resilient.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
1.5-4 feet
Spread
1.5-3 feet
Hardiness Zones
Zones 9-11
Sunlight Requirements
Ideally partial shade to full shade.
Soil Type
Moist, well-draining soil
Soil Drainage
Moist, well-draining soil.
Soil pH
6.5-7.0
Bloom Color
Insignificant
Bloom Time
Does not bloom
Foliage Color
Green, yellow-green on both surfaces
Fall Foliage Color
Green
Leaf Lifecycle
Evergreen broadleaf
Growth Rate
Fast-growing
Seasons of Interest
All four seasons
Propagation Methods
Spores, Division
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- Forssk.
- Publication
- Fl. Aegypt.-Arab. : CXXIV, 186 (1775)
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Polypodiophyta
- Class
- Polypodiopsida
- Subclass
- Polypodiidae
- Order
- Polypodiales
- Family
- Pteridaceae
- Subfamily
- Pteridoideae
- Genus
- Pteris
Inferior Taxa
Pteris dentata var. oligodycta
Synonyms
Pteris semiserrata Asplenium adscensionis Lonchitis adscensionis Pteris adscensionis Pteris arguta Pteris flaccida Pteris flabellata Pteris straminea Pteris serrulata Pteris cordemoyi