Species · genus Cyrtomium · Dryopteridaceae

House Holly Fern

Cyrtomium falcatum (L.fil.) C.Presl

Also known as: Japanese Netvein Hollyfern · Holly Fern · Japanese Holly Fern · Asian Hollyfern

Growth habit

perennial or lithophyte

Native range

China North-Central, China Southeast, Japan, Kazan-retto, Korea, Manchuria, Nansei-shoto, Ogasawara-shoto, Taiwan, Vietnam

Reference · C. falcatum

Cultivars of C. falcatum

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under C. falcatum yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

The holly fern is a hardy temperate-Asian fern that grows in shaded woodland and on rock faces, so it favors indirect light and even, moderate moisture rather than soggy soil. Water when the top inch of mix is dry, letting it approach dryness but not bone-dry between waterings, and give it good drainage to mimic its lithophytic roots. It tolerates ordinary household humidity better than many ferns, though it appreciates not being kept in dry, hot drafts.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-10d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Medium light

Water

≈ every 10 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

10–24 °C

Soil mix

Loose, humus-rich, well-draining mix

Propagation

Division of the rhizome, or spores

Fertilizing

Diluted feed monthly spring through summer

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Non-flowering fern; spores form beneath the fronds

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-10d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow House Holly Fern yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.