Western sword fern
Polystichum munitum (Kaulf.) C.Presl
- light
- Part–shade
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 1.1 m
- wide
- 91 cm
Polypodiaceae
Also called Western swordfern, Sword fern
Formerly Aetopteron munitum, Aspidium munitum, Dryopteris munita, Nephrodium plumula, and 2 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- PerennialKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Alaska to Mexico (Baja California Norte, I. Guadalupe)Kew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade to shade (under 6 h)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 91 cm to 1.2 mRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 3–4 ft; Wikipedia 50–180 cm
- Spread
- 61 cm to 1.2 mRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Coldest it survives
- -28.9 °C (USDA zone 5a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: flowers, heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- German
- Westamerikanischer Schwertfarn
- French
- polystic à épées
- Danish
- sværdbregne
- Russian
- Многорядник защищённый
- root
- scx̣áyəm̕, tsx̱álem, sθχeləm̓
- Polish
- paprotnik sztywny, Paprotnik Zbrojny
- Spanish
- Helecho de Espada Occidental
- Dutch
- Zwaardvaren
- Belarusian
- Западна Мечова Папрат
- Czech
- Kapradina ostnitá
- Slovak
- papraďovec ozbrojený
- Ukrainian
- Багаторядник захищений
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA 2.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-26, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-26, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-26, CC BY-SA
- 3D model: Polystichum munitum (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.