Expensive, Unknown Fern Plant - Solved! - Four years ago I rescued a pretty much dead plant from a garden centre. The price tag on the pot - no bigger then two of my thumbs - was $6.99. I did receive the plant for free as the cashier wouldn't charge me for a plant she figured was dead. All the leaves did die off and I was left with a thimble of dirt. I kept it for a while longer, hoping it would come back to life. Luckily, it did. Over a few months, it popped out three leaves. For about three years after that, it would continue have new growth, but the old stuff would die so that it would always remain with three stalks. About a year and a half ago, it started growing new leafs and the old ones didn't die. The new leafs were much thicker and were much more elaborate. At the start of the summer, it started growing spores on the undersides. I took it back to the garden centre, but they were completely stumped to what it was. She couldn't even narrow it down to a species, just "fern". Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Here are pictures - the first one is of the old leaves and the second two are the newest growth plus the first leaf that had the spores.
Looks like Cyrtomium falcatum. Common name Japanese Holly fern. See..... http://images.google.com/imgres?img...microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7SUNA&sa=N http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Cyrtomium_falcatum_(Sori)_2.jpg
Ah! Thank you! You're amazing. :) Thank you! Are they usually that expensive? I've just done a quick web search and can't find much information on it other then the growing conditions.
If your fern had been healthy that would seem very cheap to me. A lot of money for a poor specimen though. Check out Heronswood prices! Look at the size of pot in the ad! Just 4 " http://www.heronswood.com/perennials_ferns_cyrtomium/cyrtomium-falcatum/
Thank you for the additional links :) Finding this out has just been the whipped cream on top of an extremely great day. He needs to be replanted soon so I will have to ensure that he receives a very beautiful and unique pot. Again, thank you very much for your prompt and helpful post.
We grow our outdoors. We are zone 9. It is an evergreen fern. You will need to check to see if it is OK where you are. Or, keep it in the super new pot that you plan to buy for it. P.S. "He" might just have to be called she. She is after all pregnant!
These aren't commonly available...so (if it were 'alive') I guess that wouldn't be an 'out of line' price. I'd lug mine indoors during the winter and place it in a cool room with bright light...it still became rather 'ratty'....but after placing it outdoors in the spring...what a beauty it became!
Cyrtomium falcatum is a very tough fern hardy to zone 6 /7 ( -12'C / +10'F)..so I do not think you need to bring it indoors. However, it is one of the ferns can grow well indoors. The robust glossy leaves help it to survive in dry centrally heated houses....But like even the toughest plants it is possible to kill it if you really try !! Good Luck. BrianO
:) That is true, but the holly gives me a very male vibe. I will most likely keep it inside. He's still quite small and has now been doing extremely well; I don't want to mess that up. It's actually quite interesting because I am learning about plant cells, reproduction, etc. in biology. And, it's grown yet another stem since my first posting.
