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Polystichum setiferum
Also called English Hedge Fern, Hedge Fern
Soft shield fern is an evergreen or semi-evergreen fern with soft, bright green fronds, widely grown in gardens and especially valued for shady woodland-style planting. It thrives in cool, moist, shaded conditions with good drainage.
Polystichum setiferum, or the soft shield fern, is an evergreen or semi-evergreen fern native to southern and western Europe. The stalks and most midribs are coated with cinnamon-brown scales. The Latin specific epithet setiferum means "with bristles".
Polystichum setiferum is frequently cultivated as an ornamental plant for use in gardens. There are many cultivars available: over 300 have been described although most are no longer in cultivation or not considered sufficiently distinct for an individual name. The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
Divisilobum Group
It is most abundant in Ireland, southwestern Great Britain, western France and northwest Iberia, where it benefits from the combination of mild winters and moist summers, but also occurs more locally north to northern Scotland and east to the Crimea and Turkey; in the Mediterranean it usually grows at high altitudes. It grows in woodlands, often but not always on steep slopes.
Christmas fern · Hard shield-fern · Western swordfern · Japanese Tassel Fern · Black Shield Fern · Korean rockfern · Hollyfern
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polystichum setiferum 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.
