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Giant swordfern

Nephrolepis biserrata

Giant swordfern
Photo: Daderot, Public domain
Family
Nephrolepidaceae (Nephrolepid family)
Grows as
Fern
Safety
Not toxic to cats or dogs (ASPCA).
Native range
Tropics & Subtropics
Climate
wet tropical

About

Nephrolepis biserrata (giant swordfern, 长叶肾蕨) is a tropical fern, native to Florida, Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, South America, Africa, and southeast Asia.

Its stipes are grayish brown and 10–50 cm × about 4 mm in size, with brownish-green, papery lamina that are 14–30 cm wide × 0.7–2 m in length, but has occasionally attained a length of twenty-seven feet (eight meters). This is the largest of all the sword ferns and it often is labeled Macho Fern at nurseries. after its aggressive growth nature when compared to ferns such as the Boston Sword Fern, Nephrolepis exaltata that is planted more commonly.

Other Nephrolepis plants

Asian Swordfern · Narrow swordfern · Boston swordfern · Australian Sword Fern · Swordfern

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

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.

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