Walking Fern
Asplenium rhizophyllum
Found in glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 2–12 inches
- Spread
- 2–12 inches
- Light
- Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Bloom
- May to October
Recorded in 71 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Habitats
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 121 animals.
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common RavenCorvus corax
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Black-and-White WarblerMniotilta varia
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Asplenium
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
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
- Aspleniaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- Soil pH
- Alkaline
- Flower color
- Not applicable
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Not applicable” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “2–12 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Leaves · “Evergreen” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Soil pH · “Alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “2–12 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA 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
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- 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