• Home
• About
• Visit
• Plant
  Collections
• Gardens & Climates
• In Bloom
• Plant Finder
• Collections Dept.
• Plant Sales
• Calendar of Events
• Library
• Bookstore
• Education
• Support
• Volunteer

In Bloom

Pellaea rotundifolia is located in the East Asia Garden in bed 19B and in the Australia Garden in bed 62C.

Location Scientific Name Pellaea rotundifolia Common Name "Button Fern" Family Polypodiaceae Plant Type Perennial plants Environment This plant will survive in dry conditions, but needs acid, humus-rich soil, filtered sun, and regular water to look its best. Bloom Does not flower. Spores are produced all year long. Foilage is evergreen. Uses Shade plant in mild-winter gardens. Long-lived as a houseplant. More Info Information and resources from the San Diego Fern Society Propagation: Growing Ferns From Spores Illustrated book on New Zealand Ferns: New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants. Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth, 1989. Encyclopedia of Garden Ferns. Sue Olsen, Timber Press 2007. Profile Contributor: Fred Bové

In rocky crevices and open forests in New Zealand where there is plenty of shade, grows one of the most popular of house plants, the button fern. Its fronds (leaves) with its small, round forest-green pinnae (segments), occupy window sills and coffee tables in homes from Australia to Europe. Look under each pinna and see the sori, the clusters of spore cases that contain dusky, dust-like single-cell spores, running along its margins. Spores are the fern's means of reproduction, and every fern has its own distinctive pattern of sori on the underside of its pinnae.

Ferns are one of the earth's oldest inhabitants. Millions of years ago the “button fern” had ancestors covering the world before the age of dinosaurs. Eons of time passed and great oceans submerged the fern forests. Compression and volcanic activity on layers of sediment eventually created today's world-wide beds of fossil fuel. Ten thousand species of ferns exist in the world today.

From the Library Terrace, walk down the path through the East Asia Garden, toward the California Native Garden. On your right is a pond and nearby, under a large weeping cherry, is the button fern.

• Archive 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006

Magnolia campbellii January	Magnolia denudata February	Magnolia x veitchii March
Iris douglasiana April

Acer palmatum 'Sango kaku' January	Magnolia campbellii 'Darjeeling' February	Bomarea spp. March
Rhododendron occidentale April	Polystichum munitum May	x Chiranthofremontia lenzii June
Salvia leucantha July	Hydrangea seemannii August	Wollemia nobilis September
Cyathea cooperi October	Pinus radiata November	Correa spp. December

Garrya elliptica January	Magnolia x soulangeana February	Senecio glastifolius March
Ribes spp. April	Oxalis oregana May	Calandrinia grandiflora June
Taxus baccata July	Romneya coulteri August	Passiflora parritae September
Malvaviscus arboreus October	Monterey Cypress November	Aloe arborescens December

Aloe plicatilis January	Banksia seminuda February	Zantedeschia aethiopica March
Magnolia laevifolia April	Araucaria heterophylla May	Toxicodendron diversilobum June
Clarkia sp. July	Agapanthus August	Brugmansia September
Cedrus spp. October	Protea repens November	Camellia sinensis December

Thujopsis dolabrata January	Gordonia longicarpa February	Rojasianthe superba March
Echium spp. April	Iris douglasiana May	Digitalis purpurea June
Felicia amelloides July	Ceroxylon quindiuense August	Amaryllis belladonna September
Ginkgo biloba October	Acer morrisonense November	Ilex aquifolium December

Picea sitchensis January	Telanthophora grandifolia February	Aeonium arboreum 'Schwartzkopf' March
Leptospermum April	Salvia gesneraeflora May	Lavandula spp. June
Pelargonium July	Fuchsia paniculata August	Luma apiculata September
Luculia October	Arbutus unedo November	Cycad December

Restionaceae January	Hellebores February	Ceanothus March
Rhododendron April	Psoralea pinnata May	Fremontodendron californicum June
Leucadendron argenteum July	Crocosmia August	Gunnera tinctoria September
Pellaea rotundifolia October	Fuchsia boliviana November	Erica canaliculata December

Magnolia campbelli January	Magnolia denudata February	Camellia March
Geranium maderense April	Acmena smithii May	Eschscholzia californica June
Dendromecon harfordii July	Romneya coulteri August	Eupatorium purpureum September
Epilobium canum sp. October	Grevillea spp. November	Drimys winteri December