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Phlebodium aureum (Rabbit's Foot Fern) - This shade-loving medium sized fern has large pale gray-green arching fronds that are deeply lobed with large spores in two rows on the undersides of the leaves. The fronds rise up 2 to 3 feet from the thick creeping rhizomes that are so covered with brown scales that it looks like fur. This fern needs a fairly well-drained soil and tolerates situations where it gets only occasional irrigation but grows more robust in wetter conditions. It also tolerates some direct morning or late afternoon sun but seems to grow best in bright shade. It has proven hardy in our garden to short periods as low as 25° F and we have reports from a gardener in Jacksonville, Florida that it has tolerated 18° F there. It is an interesting and attractive groundcover in the near frost free garden and nice when used as a potted specimen. In Barbara Joe Hoshizaki and Robin Moran's Fern Growers Manual (Timber Press 2001) it is also listed as a good fern for growing indoors.
Phlebodium aureum has a wide natural distribution from southern Florida and West Indies south through Mexico, Central America to northern South America. The name for the genus comes from the Greek word phlebodes (from 'phlebos' meaning "vein") that translates to "full of veins" in reference to the highly branched veins in the leaves. Other common names besides Rabbit's Foot Fern (which is also used for several other ferns) include Golden Polypody, Gold Foot Fern, and Cabbage Palm Fern. Our thanks to the late Paul Gripp, founder of the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate for sharing this fern from his garden with us in 1988.
Information displayed on this page about Phlebodium aureum is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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