Species library › Asplenium › Asplenium rhizophyllum
Ferns Well documented

Asplenium rhizophyllum

Walking fern

The walking fern is a small evergreen spleenwort of eastern North America with undivided, long-tailed leaves whose tips root where they touch moss or rock, forming chains of new plants. It grows on shaded, moss-covered limestone and other alkaline rock in cool, humid ravines. It is fully hardy and needs a cold winter, lime in the medium and steady moisture.

Asplenium rhizophyllum
Photo: Richtid, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

Grows on shaded boulders, ledges and crevices of limestone or other alkaline rock, usually among moss, and rarely on sandstone, fallen logs or soil. Typical sites are shaded ravines, bluffs and outcrops in deciduous forest. Young plants hold their leaves flat against the rock; mature plants arch them.

Mostly a plant of the Appalachians, the Ozarks and the Great Lakes region at low to moderate altitudes. Few GBIF records carry an elevation; the measured sites are at about 70–300 m.

Eastern CanadaEastern and Central United States

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.