Japanese holly fern
Cyrtomium falcatum
Family · Dryopteridaceae · Harmless
The fern with broad, glossy leaflets cut like a holly leaf, which came from Japan as a pot plant and today comes out of walls and escarpments on the islands.
Walls and rocks · Dunes and sand · Town and roadside · Streams and ditches
Also known asholly fern, house holly fern
How to tell it
It does not look like a fern at first glance. The fronds are divided only once, into five to twelve pairs of broad, very leathery, glossy leaflets, sickle-shaped with a wavy or toothed edge, exactly like holly leaves. Round sori scattered over the whole underside. It stands salt and drought.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
None. It is an exotic escaped from gardens and naturalised on the islands and the mainland coast. It is not among the worst invaders, but it occupies rock crevices and walls where native ferns would live, which is exactly where they have no alternative.