Lygodium japonicum is one of the most unique members of the fern family...a fern that climbs. Japanese climbing fern has very lacy foliage resembling a palmate green snowflake, with the male fronds slightly less frilly than the lacier female foliage that bears the spores after Thanksgiving. While Japanese climbing fern dies to the ground each winter, the energy stored in the roots produces a taller climber each year. Japanese climbing fern climbs via twining new growth, so it needs a means of support. In the Deep South, Lygodium japonicum may become weedy by spreading spores around, so be careful or avoid this in environmentally sensitive areas. The more aggressive Lygodium microphyllum has become quite a problem in areas like the Everglades. Climbing ferns can be easily neutered to prevent unwanted offspring by cutting them to the ground before Thanksgiving.
