Last updated: January 28, 2025
Place
Nightingale Trail - Stop 7 Resurrection Fern
NPS photo
Quick Facts
Location:
30.75224N 81.46421W
Resurrection Fern “Polypodium polypodioides”
This epiphyte (air plant) is growing at eye level on the curved tree trunk to the right of the marker. These small ferns have adapted well to living on the spreading branches of Live oaks. They draw their nutrients from decaying material that gets trapped among their fronds. They do not harm the trees. The name Resurrection Fern refers to the way its leaves turn brown and curl during droughts. With the next rain, water is absorbed, and the fern ‘resurrects’, turning lush and green once more.
This epiphyte (air plant) is growing at eye level on the curved tree trunk to the right of the marker. These small ferns have adapted well to living on the spreading branches of Live oaks. They draw their nutrients from decaying material that gets trapped among their fronds. They do not harm the trees. The name Resurrection Fern refers to the way its leaves turn brown and curl during droughts. With the next rain, water is absorbed, and the fern ‘resurrects’, turning lush and green once more.