Winter Ferns 2025-2026

Christmas Ferns

At this time of year, I always highlight the Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), for obvious reasons. I did not find a specific citation on why it is called Christmas fern, but it is a nice shiny dark green evergreen fern that was (and is) used for Christmas decorations. I believe pretty much all of you know what this fern looks like, since it is common in the woods in our area.

This photo shows a close up of the underside of a few pinnae, which have a pretty pattern this time of year. The most common key to identification of the Christmas Fern is the "ear" or auricle at the base of the pinnae, which can make them look like Christmas stockings (as in the photo), or Santa's sleigh if you view them lenghwise instead.

The only fern related to Christmas Fern in Massachusetts is the Braun's Holly Fern (Polystichum braunii), which is very uncommon in our state and generally found in more northern rich rocky moist woods. We have seen it growing roadside in Vermont, but only naturally in one spot in MA. It is dark green and glossy, but is distinctively different with a frond that tapers to very small pinnae near the base, somewhat like an Ostrich Fern. I will find a photo of a Braun's Holly Fern for the next news article.

Wishing you all Happy Holidays. With so little to no snow on the ground now, you can practice your dead fern identification, if you wish... I will do some more winter green ferns and also the common (and less common) clubmosses of our area in future articles.

A correction to my previous article on the Climbing Fern. I stated that according to Go Botany, Climbing Ferns were present in all the counties of MA. I was wrong, I missed noticing that Dukes and Nantucket (the islands off Cape Cod) were not colored in on the distribution map. Sorry about the mistake. Thanks to KF for the correction!

Posted: to PV Fern News on Tue, Dec 23, 2025
Updated: Tue, Dec 23, 2025