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Polystichum whiteleggei
Whitelegge's Shield Fern is a large, thick-fronded fern native only to the summits and slopes of Lord Howe Island, in the Tasman Sea. It is grown by fern enthusiasts in cool, humid, sheltered conditions, and its fronds can grow very heavy when mature.
Polystichum whiteleggei is a fern in the family Dryopteridaceae. A former common name was heavy fern, alluding to the weight of one of the large, thick textured, fronds when fully developed. The specific epithet honours Thomas Whitelegge (1850–1927) of the Australian Museum, who collected zoological specimens on Lord Howe Island in 1887, who first noticed the fern's distinctiveness.
The fern is endemic to Australia’s subtropical Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea; it is locally common to rare on the edges and flanks of the summits of Mounts Lidgbird and Gower.
Christmas fern · Hard shield-fern · Aleutian holly fern · Harsh Shield Fern · Polystichum bonapartii · Braun's hollyfern · Polystichum bulbiferum · Monte Guilarte hollyfern · California swordfern · Madeira Shield-Fern · Dudley's swordfern · Polystichum fallax
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polystichum whiteleggei 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.
