Golden Leather Fern
Acrostichum aureum
Found in mangrove swamps, brackish marshes, rarely inland in freshwater wetlands. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 41%
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 20 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Tidal forests and thickets of red, black and white mangrove along sheltered tropical and subtropical shores.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 85 animals.
- Mottled DuckAnas fulvigula
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Reddish EgretEgretta rufescens
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Roseate SpoonbillPlatalea ajaja
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Shiny CowbirdMolothrus bonariensis
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Short-tailed HawkButeo brachyurus
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
- SoraPorzana carolina
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Acrostichum
- Fagitana litteraMarsh Fern Moth
- Stathmopoda elyellaGolden Stathmopoda
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Pteridaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S3 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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