With a name like mother fern, this plant must be the end-all-be-all, mother of all ferns, right?
Mother Fern, Asplenium bulbiferum
Photograph by Jon Sullivan via Flickr.
Mother fern grows up to three feet tall and three feet wide.
Mother fern also goes by hen and chickens fern, mother spleenwort, and New Zealand common spleenwort. True on both counts: mother fern hails from the NZ region, and indigenous Maori collected young fronds and ate them raw or cooked.
Photograph via Gardeners Market.
Mother fern thrives indoors as well.
If you live in a colder region, consider growing this fern inside. Even a covered porch or patio will work.
Photograph by Chiara Switzer via Flickr.
The feathery fronds develop tiny offsets at the edges that grow to roughly two inches before falling off and then sprouting into new ferns near the parent plant.
Keep It Alive