Species · genus Pteris · Pteridaceae

Ladder Brake

Pteris vittata L.

Also known as: Chinese Brake · Chinese Ladder Brake · Ladder Brake Fern

Growth habit

perennial or rhizomatous geophyte

Native range

Algeria, Andaman Is., Angola, Assam, Azores, Baleares, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, DR Congo, East Himalaya, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Free State, Ghana, Greece, Gulf of Guinea Is., India, Italy, Japan, Jawa, Kenya, Kriti, KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Lesser Sunda Is., Libya, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Malaya, Maluku, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New South Wales, Nicobar Is., Northern Provinces, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Queensland, Rwanda, Réunion, Santa Cruz Is., Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Socotra, Solomon Is., Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan-South Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Tonga, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, Vanuatu, Victoria, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Western Australia, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Reference · P. vittata

Cultivars of P. vittata

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

No named cultivars catalogued under P. vittata 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 vittata is a rhizomatous fern with an exceptionally broad range, found growing on rock faces, walls, and disturbed soil across warm temperate to tropical zones. Unlike many ferns it tolerates brighter, drier sites, but it still wants its rhizome kept evenly moist rather than soggy in fast-draining mix. Water when the top inch of the mix has dried, and keep it out of harsh 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 4-9d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 9 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

13–24 °C

Soil mix

Moisture-retentive mix with added lime or grit

Propagation

Division of the clump, or spores

Fertilizing

Dilute liquid feed monthly during active growth

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 4-9d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Ladder 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.