Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Spores
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

An evergreen fern of eastern North American woodlands whose fronds remain lush green through winter, earning it the Christmas name. Each pinna bears a small ear-shaped lobe at its base said to resemble a Christmas stocking, making the species easy to identify among woodland ferns.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Dryopteridaceae
Genus: Polystichum
Species: Polystichum acrostichoides