Pteris multifida Poir.

Spider Brake; Wall Brake; Huguenot Fern

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Spider Brake is an introduced evergreen fern in the Maidenhair Fern family (Pteridaceae). It is thought to be native to Asia, but is now found in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. In Alabama, it can be found in the southern 2/3’s of the state. Spider Brake often grows on brick walls of older buildings, in masonry around cemeteries’, and on limestone or marl creek banks. It is a perennial with a short creeping rhizome. The rhizome is covered in reddish-brown scales. The fronds (leaves) are clustered towards the apex of the rhizome. Fronds vary from 2 to 15 inches in length. The petiole is scaly towards the base and glabrous above. The blade is oblong to oblanceolate in outline and pinnately or pedately divided into lanceolate or linear pinna. The rachis (the continuation of the petiole between the pinna) is winged. The margins of the pinna are serrate or entire. Spider Brake reproduces by forming spores. The spores are in sporangia located along the margins of the pinna and are covered by the curved margin of the pinna (a false indusium). Spider Brake is similar to Cretan Brake (Pteris cretica Linnaeus), a much less common species in Alabama. Cretan Brake lacks a winged rachis. Spider Brake is often cultivated and is available from many nurseries. It prefers an alkaline soil and can survive drier conditions than many ferns. Brake is a Middle English word for “fern”. This species is also known by the common name of Huguenot Fern. It was collected from a Huguenot cemetery in Charleston South Carolina in 1868, and it was falsely believed to have been introduced by the Huguenots. This species is very common in the historic downtown of Mobile and Selma where it grows in the cracks of walls along the alley ways.--A. Diamond

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Not Native

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