Tammy SonsFounder/CEO, TN Nursery · CEO TN Nursery

Christmas Ferns For Sale - Polystichum Acrostichoides

20 Jul 2022 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:29

The video segment provides an overview of the Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), a North‑American pteridophyte. It explains its taxonomic placement as a vascular, non‑flowering plant, its widespread native distribution, and preferred habitats such as riverbanks, ravines, woodlands, and hillsides with partial shade and adequate moisture. The fern is chemically unpalatable to deer, allowing it to colonize areas and suppress competing vegetation. It is evergreen, reaching about two feet, and typically grows in colonies or small groups. Human uses include ornamental gardening and decorative foliage, while ecological functions encompass erosion control on slopes and providing nesting material for ground‑dwelling birds like wild turkeys. The segment emphasizes the fern’s role in soil stabilization through dense leaf litter.

Chapters

Christmas fern belongs to the group pteridophyta, vascular plants that do not produce flowers and seed. It originates from North America, where it is widely spread and abundant. Christmas fern inhabits riverbanks, ravines, woodlands, and hillsides. It grows in the partial shade, in areas that provide enough moisture. Typical forest grazers, such as deer, do not like to eat Christmas fern because of its specific chemical composition. As a result, Christmas fern can easily occupy new areas and prevent growth of other plants. People cultivate Christmas fern in their gardens as ornamental plant and/or use leaves of this fern in decorative purposes. Christmas fern is an evergreen plant that can reach 2 feet in height. It grows in large colonies or more commonly, in groups of 2 to 3 individual plants. Christmas fern is used for the erosion control. It grows on the slopes and creates dense pile of decaying leaves that play important role in stabilization of the soil beneath them. Stack of leaves of Christmas fern is also used as shelter or ideal nesting site for the ground-dwelling birds such as wild turkey.