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Woodwardia prolifera is an evergreen fern from China, Japan and the Philippines that grows to 1.5 to 3 metres, with fronds that can be green or orange and bear pink-orange plantlets (bulbils). It is a popular garden plant and needs shade, humidity and moist, acidic soil.
Woodwardia prolifera (Chinese: 珠芽狗脊) is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae found in China, Japan and the Himalayas. It was first described by Sir William Jackson Hooker and George Arnott Walker Arnott in 1838.
This species is a popular plant in horticulture. It has gained the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.
They can be propagated by pegging down their fronds and then letting the plantlets or bulbils create roots before removing them from the frond. The bulbils or plantlets can also be planted separately although high humidity is required. They can also be easily propagated with spores.
Three different lignans, blechnic acid, 7-epiblechnic acid, and brainic acid are known to be present in Woodwardia prolifera.
This species can be found growing around coastal locations, mountain slopes and near streams. They usually occur in wet conditions at elevations between 100 – 1,100m.
Giant chainfern · Rooting chainfern · Jewelled Chain Fern · Chainfern
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Woodwardia prolifera 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.
