Soft shield fern
Polystichum setiferum (Forssk.) T.Moore ex Woynar
- light
- Part–shade
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 76 cm
- wide
- 76 cm
Polypodiaceae
Also called Soft Shield Fern, Soft shield-fern
Formerly Aspidium angulare, Aspidium hastulatum, Dryopteris setifera, Hypopeltis hastulata, and 3 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
- Macaronesia, W. & C. Europe to Medit. and IranKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade to shade (under 6 h)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 61 cm to 91 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Spread
- 61 cm to 91 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Coldest it survives
- -17.8 °C (USDA zone 7a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: flowers, heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- German
- Grannen-Schildfarn, Borsten-Schildfarn, Borstiger Schildfarn
- Portuguese
- fentanha
- French
- Polystic à soies, polystic à soies
- Catalan
- polístic setífer, falguera d'avellanosa
- Dutch
- Zachte naaldvaren, zachte naaldvaren
- Chinese (China)
- 刺毛耳蕨
- Russian
- Многорядник щетинконосный
- Ukrainian
- Багаторядник щетинястий
- Swedish
- spetsbräken
- Danish
- kirkegårdsbregne
- Italian
- Felce setifera
- Polish
- paprotnik szczecinkozębny
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
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-26, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-26, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-26, CC BY
- 3D model: Polystichum setiferum (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.