General Culture:

Best grown in medium moisture, well-drained, alkaline to slightly acidic soils in part shade to full shade. Thrives in humusy, limestone soils. Needs superior soil drainage to avoid root rot. Crispum Group plants are usually sterile and must be propagated vegetatively.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Hart’s tongue fern is a very diverse fern species which contains both undissected and dissected forms with a large variety of different frond margins. Plants sold as ‘Crispum’ are part of the Crispum (undissected deeply frilled margins) Group. These ferns typically form erect-arching clumps (to 9-12” tall) of undissected, leathery, tongue-shaped, bright green fronds (8-16” long) with deeply frilly margins. Formerly included in the genus Phyllitis and is synonymous with Phyllitis scolopendrium (Crispum Group). Common name is in reference to the supposed resemblance of the frond shape to a deer’s tongue.