Resurrection Fern is a fascinating feature on old live oak limbs. It’s brown and shriveled until it rains.
It responds immediately to the moisture, turning green and sturdy looking. It would be neat to do a time lapse photo study.
Ted, enjoying the view into the marsh.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
September 9, 2025
A more healthy looking grouping of Resurrection Fern was nearby the Resurrection Fern, On Brick from my previous post. It was well shaded and the detritus buildup on the branch held much more water to revive the fern than the brick.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
December 31, 2021
Resurrection Fern is the common name of the species Polypodium polypodioides, a plant that grows on the surface of other plants and trees, and is most well known on Live Oaks around the Low Country of South Carolina. It springs to life when it rains, then slowly dries up, appearing dead.
Conversation with New Zealand blogger Ms. Liz about her post of a fern at Exploringcolour.wordpress.com/ has inspired me to work on ferns today. I thought I’d start small.
These fronds are typically 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 centimeters) in length (National Wildlife Federation) and this particular collection was smaller.
The images in today’s post are of the fern growing on this brick wall that encloses a cemetery plot. A one inch (2.5 cm) plus rainfall the day before had worked its magic and the fern was looking quite lively. I suspect squirrels use this wall as a lunch spot accounting for the partially chewed Magnolia seed pod.
I’m using the term Resurrection Fern loosely here, as it appears to me there are multiple variations and I know nothing about more specific identification.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
December 31, 2021
I’ve posted about this fern a few times and it’s not uncommon for it to appear in other images along side a bird. Other Resurrection Fern Posts
