Microlepia strigosa

Lace Fern Dennstaedtiaceae

A handsome, vigorous evergreen fern with a long-creeping, brown-hairy rhizome and broad, finely divided fronds. The arching blades are typically 40–80 cm long, two to three times divided, with soft green, slightly overlapping pinnules and conspicuously hairy rachises and veins. The overall effect is rather more substantial and architectural than its common name, hay-scented fern, might suggest. An excellent woodland fern for a moist, humus-rich soil and partial shade.

Widely distributed from the Himalaya and India through southern China, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Polynesia. It is principally a fern of humid woodland, forest margins and mountain slopes, occurring from low elevations into the subtropics and tropics. In Japan it extends northwards considerably farther than might be expected, reaching the Boso Peninsula. 

The species was originally described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1784 as Trichomanes strigosum in Flora Japonica, based on his Japanese collections. Carl Presl transferred it to Microlepia in 1851, creating Microlepia strigosa (Thunb.) C.Presl. Older literature consequently contains Trichomanes strigosum, Davallia strigosa and Dicksonia strigosa, amongst others. 

Nomenclature: Kew’s current World Checklist treats Microlepia strigosa as a synonym of Dennstaedtia strigosa, but this is not universally followed: modern Japanese, Taiwanese and Far Eastern fern treatments continue to recognise Microlepia strigosa. For a horticultural catalogue, Microlepia strigosa remains the more familiar and useful name. 

• Hardiness: H4, -10 to -5°C
• Height: 60–90 cm
• Spread: 90–120 cm
• Fronds: evergreen to semi-evergreen