Common Name: champion's wood fern
Type: Fern
Family: Dryopteridaceae
Native Range: Central and eastern Asia
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Bloom Time: Non-flowering
Bloom Description: Non-flowering
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Leaf: Evergreen
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Rabbit, Heavy Shade
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture soils in part shade to full shade. Best in part shade. Prefers moist, humusy soils rich in organic matter. Site in a location sheltered from strong winds to protect the fronds. Plants slowly spread by short creeping rhizomes.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Dryopteris championii, commonly called Champion’s wood fern, is an evergreen fern that is native to Japan, Korea and China. It typically grows in a clump to 2-3’ tall. Upright, arching, bipinnate, dark glossy green fronds have 12-14 pairs of pinnae. Fronds remain erect and evergreen throughout the winter. Stipe and rachis are distinctively covered with reddish-brown scales.
Genus name from Greek dryas meaning oak and pteris meaning fern in reference to the presence of some species of wood ferns in woodland areas populated with oaks.
Specific epithet honors John George Champion, English botanist who brought a variety of plants collected in China back to England in 1850.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Woodland or shade gardens.