Nephrolepis cordifolia (fishbone fern, "Tamashida")

Japanese name: タマシダ （玉羊歯）
Scientific name: Nephrolepis cordifolia

[Overview]
An evergreen fern found in sunny places near the coast.
It sometimes climbs up rocks or trees.
Water-storing tubers form on the roots, and it tolerates dryness.
The rhizome is short and densely covered with scales, and produces many thin, wiry roots and runners.
The scales are pale brown, narrowly lanceolate, thin, and long-tapered at the tip.
The fronds grow in tufts from the rhizome; they are linear-lanceolate, up to 80 cm long and 6 cm wide, and single-pinnate.
There are up to 100 pairs of pinnae, each up to 3 cm long and 0.7 cm wide, with an acute or rounded tip.
On the adaxial side of the rachis, where the pinnae attach, there is a groove with small scales.
The sori are borne on the underside of the pinnae, about midway between the midrib and the margin, and the indusium is round-kidney-shaped.
The fronds have a stalk about 10 cm long.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
It prefers a well-drained place in sun to partial shade.
It is weak against cold, so in cold regions grow it in a pot and bring it indoors to a sunny spot in winter.
For potted plants, from spring to autumn water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; in winter keep it somewhat dry and mist the leaves.
For plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply liquid fertilizer once every 1–2 weeks from spring to autumn.
Pests include spider mites and scale insects.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)