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Button Fern

Hemionitis rotundifolia, Pteridaceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

Not yet rated How forgiving it is has not been judged here yet.

Also called Cliff Brake, Cliff Break, Cliffbrake, Green Cliff Brake, New Zealand cliff brake, round-leaved fern and tarawera.

Button Fern (Hemionitis rotundifolia), the whole plant.
Daderot, CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Toxicity is partly unassessed

  • Listed as non-toxic to cats by ASPCA.
  • Listed as non-toxic to dogs by ASPCA.
  • Not assessed for people. RHS publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.

What the sources say about its care

Sources file this plant under other names: Pellaea rotundifolia. Citations below point at the name its source uses.

Light
Full sun, Partial shade
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Water
Moist but well-drained
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%
Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Temperature

How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.

H2 — 1–5°C 1–5 °C
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Soil
Loam, Sand; pH Acid
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Non-toxic
ASPCA, filed as Pellaea rotundifolia · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Non-toxic
ASPCA, filed as Pellaea rotundifolia · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.
RHS · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Watering
Button fern does best with regular watering in filtered shade, though it copes to some degree with sun and shade.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Propagation
Divide the rhizome to propagate.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Sow spores when ripe at 13-18°C.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Pruning
Pruning is not needed. Take off old leaves as they die back for winter.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Pests and diseases
Usually free of pests and diseases.
RHS · read 13 September 2026

Move something and watch

Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.

Close view of Button Fern (Hemionitis rotundifolia) foliage.
Close upKrzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Button Fern (Hemionitis rotundifolia) growing wild.
In the wildEwen Cameron, CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Native range
New Zealand, Chatham Is.
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Australia and New Zealand
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
New Zealand
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Climate
subtropical
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
Fern, Herbaceous Perennial; habit arching, erect
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Bushy (deciduous)
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 6–12 in; width 6–12 in
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Height 0.1-0.5 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 2–5 years
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
No flowers.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Other Hemionitis

More of the Pteridaceae family

Plants with similar care

Sources

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.