How did the Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) come by its common name?

Perhaps because its evergreen nature makes it ideal for use in holiday decorations. Or maybe it’s the shape of its leaflets, which, with a little imagination, resemble Christmas stockings or even Santa in his sleigh.

Regardless, the Christmas fern is a welcome splash of color during the winter months.

It also is one of the most common ferns in the eastern United States.

There are more than 11,000 true ferns worldwide. Ferns developed millions of years ago when the earth was warm and swampy and before dinosaurs and flowering plants. Because they originated in wet areas, ferns still prefer moist conditions. They can be thought of as living fossils.

The Christmas fern's genus name comes from the Greek words “polys,” meaning “many,” and “stichos,” meaning “in a row,” referencing its spores being in rows. Its species name comes from the word “acrostichoid,” meaning that spores are densely clustered on the underside of a leaflet’s surface.

Its native habitat is rich woods, stream banks, ravines, swamps and thickets. However, it is easy to grow and can be used in almost any setting or soil. It thrives under trees and even in rocky areas. It will not naturalize, but the clump will increase in size over time.

It typically grows 1-2 feet tall in a fountain-like manner. The fronds are lance-shaped with a pointed tip. They have 20-25 pairs of deep green, leathery leaflets that have a triangular lobe at their base. The sterile fronds encircle the taller, more erect fertile fronds whose spores form on the underside of the upper part of the leaflets. Spores are produced between June and October. Spread by wind, a small percentage will find an optimal wet site to begin the very complicated reproductive cycle of ferns.

The scaly, silvery fiddleheads rise in early to mid-spring. They are sometimes eaten by gamebirds, such as ruffed grouse and wild turkeys, but are avoided by deer and rabbits. The Christmas fern fiddleheads should not be eaten by humans. Because this fern forms a year-round dense soil covering, it provides a protective, concealing habitat for ground-feeding and -nesting birds and can help stabilize the soil for erosion control.

Fern glossary

• Fronds: large leaves with multiple leaflets; fertile fronds produce spores; infertile fronds do not.

• Leaflets: the small leaf-like structures on the fronds

• Spores: the reproductive bodies of ferns, which are plants that don’t produce seeds

• Fiddleheads: the young, curled fronds, which on some ferns are edible when cooked

Growing requirements

• Hardiness: Zones 3-9

• Sun: part shade to full shade

• Water: dry to medium

• Soil: sandy to medium loam; doesn’t tolerate clay

• Maintenance: low

• Propagation: root division

• Pests and diseases: none serious

Medicinal uses

Native Americans used Christmas fern to treat chills, fever, pneumonia, and stomach or bowel complaints. A poultice of the root was made for treating rheumatism, and powdered root was inhaled and then coughed up to restore the voice. It is little, if at all, used in modern herbalism.

Other notable Ohio native ferns

• Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea): grows 2-3 feet tall, with constant moisture can reach 5 feet; sterile fronds turn yellow in fall; root fibers used in potting orchids; name comes from cinnamon-colored fibers near frond base

• Lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina): grows 1-3 feet tall; fronds are lacey, light yellow-green; more tolerant of drier soils; Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit; name comes from elegant, graceful appearance

• Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum): grows 1-2½ feet tall; delicate, fan-shaped leaflets; spreads to form large colonies; fiddleheads emerge pink in spring; name comes from slender, shiny black stems resembling strands of hair

• Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris): grows 3-6 feet tall; vaselike shape; fiddleheads edible only when cooked; Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit; name comes from the frond’s appearance as a long ostrich plume

Fun fact

Because ferns reproduce without flowers or seeds, Europeans in the Middle Ages believed ferns were thought to invisibly flower and produce seed only once a year at midnight on St. John’s Eve (June 23), also called Midsummer Eve. Folklore said collecting the invisible seeds would allow people to become invisible, see into the future, and have eternal youth.