Pellaea ovata 'Longhorn Caverns'

This is one of our favorite desert sun ferns, so we are delighted to finally have a few to share from our 2000 Texas fern foray. These particular plants are spore grown from a plant in Burnet Co., in the Texas Hill Country. This darling deciduous fern has a zig-zag rachis (stem) to 2' long, adorned with thumb-shaped blue-grey leaves that point downward. Preferring dry, rocky sites in the wild, this fern grows on both alkaline and acid soils. While zig-zag cliff brake isn't difficult to grow, it might prove a bit challenging for beginners.