Plant Wiki

The open plant encyclopedia

Know any plant.
Grow it well.

Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.

  • 13,000+plants with full pages
  • 365,000+plant species worldwide
  • 220+countries covered

Common in

See all

The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.

What do you want to do?

Popular plants

Browse all plants

See them in 3D

All plants in 3D

Browse plants

Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.

Plant Wiki › Browse plants

Shoestring fern

Vittaria

Also called Shoestring Ferns

Shoestring fern
Photo: Riverbanks Outdoor Store from New Port Richey, FL, United States, CC BY 2.0

Vittaria, the shoestring ferns, is a genus of epiphytic ferns with narrow, strap-like fronds, mostly native to the Neotropics. The main growing needs are humid conditions, bright shade and a loose, airy medium that lets roots dry slightly between waterings.

Family
Pteridaceae (Maidenhair fern family)
Grows as
Epiphyte, Fern
Light
Bright indirect, Part shade
Water
Keep the medium evenly moist but never soggy; water when the surface starts to dry.
Soil
Loose, well-drained epiphyte mix such as orchid bark or sphagnum with perlite.
Temperature
18–29 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Moderate

About

Vittaria, the shoestring ferns, is a genus of ferns in the Vittarioideae subfamily of the family Pteridaceae. It had previously been placed in the family Vittariaceae, but that family is no longer recognized.

Vittaria consists of epiphytes, with simple, entire, narrowly linear fronds. It comprises six species, five of which are native to the neotropics. Vittaria isoetifolia is native to tropical Africa and islands of the southwestern Indian Ocean. Vittaria isoetifolia and Vittaria lineata are known, albeit rarely, in cultivation.

Other Vittaria plants

Appalachian shoestring fern

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Vittaria 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.

Credits & terms

Identify a plant

Point at a leaf or flower and snap. One plant in frame works best.

Your photo
Starting camera…