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Rusty woodsia

Woodsia ilvensis

Also called Oblong Woodsia, Rusty Cliff Fern, Fragrant Woodsia, Rusty Cliffbrake

Rusty woodsia
Photo: by Thomas Moore ; edited by John Lindley ; nature-printed by Henry Bradbury., Public domain

Rusty woodsia is a small wild fern of cliffs, rock crevices and dry rocky slopes across the cool northern hemisphere. It is rarely grown in gardens, and it needs sharp drainage, sun and a cool root run to thrive.

Family
Woodsiaceae (Woodsi family)
Grows as
Fern
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water sparingly and let the top of the mix dry between waterings; never let it sit wet.
Soil
Thin, gritty, free-draining mix with some grit or crushed rock, slightly acidic.
Temperature
Hardy in cold climates; comfortable at about 5-20 °C, and tolerates frost.
How easy
Hard
Native range
Subarctic & Temp. Northern Hemisphere
Climate
temperate

About

Woodsia ilvensis, commonly known as oblong woodsia, is a fern found in North America and northern Eurasia. Also known as rusty woodsia or rusty cliff fern, it is typically found on sunny, exposed cliffs and rocky slopes and on thin, dry, acidic soils.

Where it grows

Its distribution is circumpolar. It is most abundant in Scandinavia, the Ural and Altai mountains and the eastern United States. It is also found in Japan, Alaska, Canada, coastal Greenland and various European locations including the Alps.

Other Woodsia plants

Alpine woodsia · Smooth woodsia · Woodsias

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Woodsia ilvensis 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.

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