Cyclosorus tottoides

Swamp Shield Fern Thelypteridaceae

Cyclosorus tottoides is a robust, handsome fern for the damp, shady garden, belonging to the large and taxonomically rather mischievous fern complex once gathered under Thelypteris. Native to parts of eastern and southeastern Asia, including China, Japan and the Himalaya, it occurs from lowlands into the mountains, at roughly 100–2,000m, inhabiting moist woodland, stream margins, wet grassland and other humid places. Its upright, finely divided fronds emerge from a creeping rhizome, gradually forming a substantial colony with a pleasingly naturalistic appearance.

Give it partial shade to shade and fertile, humus-rich soil that remains reliably moist, particularly through summer. It is much happier with steady moisture than repeated drying and re-wetting, although good drainage is still desirable. A generous mulch of leaf mould helps enormously. This is a fern for the cooler, damper end of the border rather than the drought-tolerant brigade—and, frankly, it knows exactly where it belongs.

Altitude: 100–2,000m
Hardiness: H5, approximately −15 to −10°C
Height: 30–50cm
Spread: 50–70cm