Species · genus Pteris · Pteridaceae

Slender Brake

Pteris ensiformis Burm.

Also known as: Slender Bracken · Sword Brake

Growth habit

rhizomatous geophyte

Native range

Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Is., China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Fiji, Hainan, India, Japan, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Marianas, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Queensland, Samoa, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis-Futuna Is.

Reference · P. ensiformis

Cultivars of P. ensiformis

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

No named cultivars catalogued under P. ensiformis 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.

Pteris ensiformis is a small rhizomatous fern native to the warm, humid understory across tropical and subtropical Asia and the Pacific. It wants even moisture without sitting wet, so water when the top half-inch of mix is just dry, and give it bright indirect light away from direct sun. As a forest-floor fern it favors steady warmth and elevated humidity.

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 3-7d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 7 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

13–24 °C

Soil mix

Moisture-retentive, well-draining peat-based mix

Propagation

Division of the clump, or spores

Fertilizing

Dilute liquid feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Never flowers; reproduces by spores

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 3-7d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Slender Brake 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.