I have bought this fern last week with these spider legs-like "roots", as the man in the store told me. First I though he was joking and they are merely some kind of decoration they used at the store, but then I noticed new leaves coming out of them. So now I don't know what to do. The plant needs re-potting, and I am not sure how to handle these "roots". Please help. Many thanks
Davallia canariensis, or some other species of Davallia. Break off some of the stems and pot them up separately; they root very easily (just avoid over-watering, they like to be on the dry side). Also no real need to repot, they are happy staying indefinitely in fairly small pots. Eventually, the stems will hide the pot completely - they tend to hug whatever surface they are touching and will grow in a curve round the side of the pot. In nature, it grows as an epiphyte on tree bark on rough-barked trees (notably Pinus canariensis in the case of Davallia canariensis), the surface-hugging is an adaptation to catch rainwater dripping down the bark.
I know these as Hare's foot fern. "There are about thirty different Davallias, or hare's foot ferns, and though some of them are a bit tropical, the ones available in nurseries in Victoria [cool temperate] (all except Davallia fijeensis and its cultivars) are quite suitable for a fernery here. I would not advise growing them in the ground, but they can be grown on a mound which is very free draining, in hollow log, in a hanging basket or on a slab. They can even be grown in a depression or cleft on rock. They do need free drainage more than most ferns." http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fernsvic/Somfern.html Liz [cool temperate] is my insert.
Thank you Michael F and Liz. Your advice really helped. I was so afraid to do anything with the plant and harm it in any way. Many thanks
