Interrupted Fern
Claytosmunda claytoniana
—
Not scored
Native status: sources disagree, under review. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 2–4 feet
- Spread
- 2–4 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
Space about 3 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 11 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous or evergreen
County records are not available.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS
Genus host records with ranges including MS · Osmunda
- Euplexia benesimilisAmerican Angle Shades
- Fagitana litteraMarsh Fern Moth
- Herpetogramma aeglealisSerpentine Webworm
- Olethreutes osmundanaFern Olethreutes
- Pandemis limitataThree-Lined Leafroller Moth
- Papaipema speciosissimaOsmunda Borer
- Herpetogramma theseusalis
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Osmundaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Soil pH
- Acidic
- Flower color
- Not applicable
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Not applicable” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
- Height · “2–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Minnesota Wildflowers differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous or evergreen” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- 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); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differ)
- Soil · “Frequent standing water; Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differ)
- Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “2–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
Also known as
Osmunda claytoniana; fern
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
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Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Mississippi 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

