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Swordfern

Nephrolepis

Also called Boston Fern, Sword Ferns

Swordfern
Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0

Nephrolepis is a genus of about 30 fern species, including the popular Boston fern, grown mainly for its arching, feathery fronds. Keep it moist and out of harsh direct sun for best results.

Family
Nephrolepidaceae (Nephrolepid family)
Grows as
Fern
Light
Bright indirect, Part shade
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist and never let it dry out completely; water when the top layer feels dry.
Soil
Peat-based or humus-rich potting mix that drains well but holds moisture.
Temperature
16–29 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic

About

Nephrolepis is a genus of about 30 species of ferns. It is the only genus in the family Nephrolepidaceae, placed in the suborder Aspleniineae (eupolypods I) of the order Polypodiales in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). (It is placed in the Dryopteridaceae in some other classifications.) Species in this genus include plants commonly referred to as Boston ferns. The fronds are long and narrow, and once-pinnate, in the case of one Bornean species reaching thirty feet (nine meters) in length.

Other Nephrolepis plants

Narrow swordfern · Boston swordfern · Australian Sword Fern

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Nephrolepis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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