Polypodiaceae
Crested buckler fern
Dryopteris cristata
Also known as Dryopteris cristata, Buckler fern, Crested wood fern, Tectaria cristata
Indoor Plants · Native Plants · Fern · Shade Plant · Moisture Loving · Woodland · Wetland · Native Fern · Indoor Fern · Semi-Evergreen · Textured Foliage · Cool Climate
Crested buckler fern is a semi-evergreen woodland fern that thrives in consistently moist, humus-rich soil and dappled shade, making it ideal for shaded bog gardens or moist borders. Its distinctive crest-tipped fronds add elegant texture to low-light spaces both indoors and out. Maintain high humidity, avoid direct sun, and top-dress annually with leaf mold or compost to replicate its natural wetland habitat.
Growing conditions
The details behind the basics
- Daily light
- 3 hours
- Watering
- Keep soil consistently moist but not waterlogged; never allow to dry out completely · Every 5-7 days
- Maintenance
- Moderate
- Soil
- loam
- Soil pH
- 3.5–6.5
- Temperature
- -20°F to 90°F
- Cycle
- Perennial
- Propagation
- Seed, Division
Hardiness
USDA 4a-9b
Form & growth
Mature size and habit
- Mature height
- 12 in – 3 ft
- Spread
- 2 ft
- Spacing
- 18 in apart
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Root depth
- Medium
- Flowers
- No
- Foliage
- Green · Coarse
Ecology & origin
Where it belongs and what it brings
- Native to
- Alabama, Alberta, Altay, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, British Columbia, Central European Rus, Connecticut, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, District Of Columbia, East European Russia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain
Sources: trefle, usda
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