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Bold Sword Fern

Nephrolepis biserrata, Polypodiaceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

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

Also called Crisped Feather Fern, Dallas Fern, Giant Sword Fern, Giant Swordfern, Macho Fern, Roosevelt Fern, Sword Fern, Tall Feather Fern, Verona Fern, Verona Lace Fern and Whitman Fern.

Bold Sword Fern (Nephrolepis biserrata), the whole plant.
Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 · 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. NC State Extension 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

Light
Deep shade, Partial Shade
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Water
Good Drainage
NC State Extension · 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
Soil
Loam (Silt), Sand, Shallow Rocky; pH Acid (<6.0), Neutral (6.0-8.0)
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Non-toxic
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Non-toxic
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
No record of poisoning in people is listed for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Propagation
By division.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Pests and diseases
Can be troubled by Florida fern caterpillar and fern scale.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Move something and watch

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

Close view of Bold Sword Fern (Nephrolepis biserrata) foliage.
Close upMokkie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Bold Sword Fern (Nephrolepis biserrata) growing wild.
In the wildKrzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Nephrolepis biserrata is a tropical fern, native to Florida, Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, South America, Africa, and southeast Asia.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026

Native range
Tropics & Subtropics
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
tropical Americas, Africa and Southeast Asia
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Climate
wet tropical
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
perennial or epiphyte
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Fern, Herbaceous Perennial; habit arching
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 36–96 in; width 48–72 in
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
No flowers.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Other Nephrolepis

More of the Polypodiaceae 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.