Pteris faurieiFauries Brake Fern

Pteris fauriei is a clumping ground fern with finely divided, arching fronds carried on wiry dark stalks. The texture is light and the colour a clean mid to dark green, and in a mild climate it holds its fronds through winter rather than collapsing.

Planted at close centres it closes into a continuous soft mass, which is why it is specified as a shade ground cover under a canopy or in the permanently shadowed strip against a north wall.

Specifications

• Height0.4 to 0.8 metres
• Width0.4 to 0.8 metres
• Native toEast and Southeast Asia, including Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and the Philippines
• FoliageFinely divided, arching pinnate fronds on wiry stalks, mid to dark green; evergreen in mild climates
• Growth rateModerate

Conditions

• SoilPrefers moist, free-draining soils rich in organic matter
• LightPartial shade to deep shade
• WaterModerate to high; keep evenly moist and never let it dry out hard
• ClimateThrives in humid subtropical and warm temperate regions; frond tips scorch in exposed frost or dry wind

Additional Features

• FormSoft arching clump that knits into a continuous mass at close centres
• UsesIdeal for shaded mass planting and understorey, courtyards and light wells, atriums and container displays
• SpacingPlant 0.3 to 0.4 metres apart for a closed cover
• Low MaintenanceRemove spent fronds at the base; keep out of hot direct sun and drying wind
• Pest ResistanceGenerally resilient
• VersatilityUsed as an in-ground shade cover, in planters or as an interior fern in good indirect light

Fauries Brake Fern is the soft green answer to the strip of ground that never sees the sun.