Plant Primer: Rabbit's foot fern a sun-loving indoor plant
Rabbit’s foot fern
Light: bright shade
Height: 12-30 inches
Spread: 1-4 feet
USDA Hardiness Zones: 10-12
Origin: Fiji
Rabbit’s foot ferns (Davallia fejeensis) are fun and attractive to grow in a central Ohio home. They grow slightly mounded with upright, lacey fronds of dark green. The frond stem is slightly stiff, making it more tolerant of an active home.
Rabbit’s foot ferns are epiphytic in the wild, using rocks and trees as supports. Its common name comes from the fuzzy rhizomes that tumble visibly over the edge of containers or soil.
This plant is shallow-rooted and stores water in the rhizomes. Rabbit’s foot ferns grow best in bright, filtered sunlight and when the soil is kept moist (letting the top few inches dry out between waterings).
Plant parents should also mist the leaves during the dry indoor months.
See rabbit’s foot ferns at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in the Greenscapes Live Wall at the main entrance or in containers growing in the John F. Wolfe Palm House.
— Barbara Arnold
Franklin Park Conservatory
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Plant Primer: Rabbit's foot fern is an easy-to-grow plant
