Species · genus Phlebodium · Polypodiaceae

Gold-foot Fern

Phlebodium aureum (L.) J.Sm.

Also known as: Golden Polypody · Hare-foot Fern · Rabbit-foot Fern · Blue Star Fern · Cabbage Palm Fern

Growth habit

epiphyte

Native range

Alabama, Argentina Northeast, Bahamas, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Central American Pacific Is., Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Florida, French Guiana, Georgia, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is.

Reference · P. aureum

Cultivars of P. aureum

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

No named cultivars catalogued under P. aureum 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.

Phlebodium aureum is an epiphytic fern from the warm Americas, where it grows perched on tree trunks and branches in dappled light. Its creeping, fuzzy golden rhizomes store some moisture, and they rot if kept soggy, so use an airy, fast-draining mix and water when the top inch of the medium has dried. It wants bright indirect light and elevated humidity, never direct sun.

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

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 10 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

15–27 °C

Soil mix

Loose, peaty, well-draining mix with added perlite

Propagation

Division of the creeping rhizome, or spores

Fertilizing

Half-strength balanced feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Never flowers — a spore-bearing fern

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 Gold-foot 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.