Spider brake is a small evergreen fern from East Asia that has become established in parts of the southern United States, where it grows in the cracks of old brick walls. Its narrow leaflets sit along a central stalk edged with a thin green wing. It's also called Huguenot fern.
Appearance
- Appearance
- An evergreen fern whose sterile fronds are often about 6 in (15 cm) long, while the taller spore-bearing fronds can reach about 20 in (50 cm). Fronds grow in a tuft from a short creeping with reddish-brown scales.
- Leaves
- Each frond has a few narrow leaflets, and the central stalk between them carries a thin green wing. Spore-bearing fronds are taller and narrower; the others are shorter with toothed edges.
Look-alikes
Cretan brakePteris cretica
Cretan brake has no wing along the central stalk between the leaflets and is much less common on walls in Alabama. Spider brake's stalk is winged.
Why they get mixed upBoth are Pteris ferns with long, narrow leaflets.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- old walls
- cemetery masonry
- limestone creek banks
- Range
- Native to East Asia. In the U.S. it is an introduced fern; in Alabama it grows across roughly the southern two-thirds of the state and is especially common in the historic downtowns of Mobile and Selma.
- Preferred conditions
- Likes shade and alkaline spots such as mortar and limestone, and handles drier conditions than most ferns.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- Reproduces by spores, which form along the edges of the leaflets under the rolled-over margin.
Growing it
- Care
- Often sold by nurseries and grown in pots or shady garden spots.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- "Brake" is an old Middle English word for fern.
- It was collected in a Charleston cemetery in 1868, which led to the mistaken belief that French Huguenot settlers had brought it over—hence "Huguenot fern."
More species to explore
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