Dryopteris x australis

Dryopteris x australis is a very rare East Coast American native...a naturally-occurring hybrid between Dryopteris x celsa and Dryopteris ludoviciana. The growth habit is dramatically upright with large, coarse, dark green, semi-evergreen fronds...reminiscent of a giant Christmas fern plugged into an electrical outlet! This is a very structural, deer-resistant fern for the moist woodland garden, eventually making a clump 4'+ tall x 2' wide. Although Dryopteris x australis is very tolerant of dry sites, a nice damp piece of ground will produce really spectacular results. Due to the fact that this fern is practically sterile, propagation is limited to division of the clump. Our clonal offering was collected in 1982 by Dr. Larry Mellichamp, adjacent to the South Carolina Darlington Raceway, along Swift Creek.