Button fern | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Division: | Polypodiophyta |
Class: | Polypodiopsida |
Order: | Polypodiales |
Family: | Pteridaceae |
Genus: | Pellaea |
Species: | P. rotundifolia
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Binomial name | |
Pellaea rotundifolia | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Pellaea rotundifolia, the button fern, is a species of fern endemic to New Zealand, where it grows in scrub and forests.[2] It is also a popular garden plant (in zones 8 and 9) and house plant, tolerating low temperatures but not freezing.[3]
Pellaea rotundifolia is a compact, evergreen fern that can have more than 30 pairs of round, dark-green, leathery pinnae on fronds up to 18 in (460 mm) in length.[2] The Latin specific epithet rotundifolia means "round-leaved".[4]
It needs acidic and well-drained soil; it does not appreciate the moist, humid conditions that most ferns require so does well with minimal watering.[2]
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[3][5]