Japanese Climbing Fern
Lygodium japonicum
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 15–90 feet
- Spread
- 15–30 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
Do not plant. Listed invasive in Arkansas.
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous, semi-evergreen or evergreen
- Bloom
- June to December
Recorded in 19 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
—CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimPlant details
- Family
- Lygodiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 7a–13b
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to December” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 7a–13b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “15–90 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous, semi-evergreen or evergreen” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Spread · “15–30 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Goblins Foot
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AR status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (2013)
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Arkansas occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications