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Polystichum aculeatum
Hard shield-fern is an evergreen fern of woodland slopes and upland limestone screes in Europe, valued for its stiff, glossy, bristly-tipped fronds. It needs shade, moisture and good drainage on a cool, humus-rich site.
Polystichum aculeatum, the hard shield-fern, is an evergreen fern native to Europe. It is most abundant in upland regions of the British Isles and western France, where it benefits from the combination of mild winters and moist summers, but also occurs more locally across most of Europe except northern Scandinavia, northern Russia; in the Mediterranean region it is confined to high altitudes. It grows on steep slopes in woodlands. it is sometimes considered an indicator of the presence of ancient woodlands.
It is found in the counties of Down, Antrim and Londonderry in Ireland, throughout the British Isles and Europe except for the northern countries. It is found in mountain limestone screes in the Jura and the alps, and on alpine and subalpine limestone cliffs.
Polystichum aculeatum is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Christmas fern · Western swordfern · Japanese Tassel Fern · Black Shield Fern · Soft Shield Fern · Korean rockfern · Hollyfern
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polystichum aculeatum 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.
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.
