Western Sword-fern - Polystichum munitum
A robust evergreen fern forming a large clump of erect, narrowly lance-shaped, dark green, pinnate fronds, the narrow pinnae finely spine-toothed.
Prefers partly shaded, moist well-drained soil.
All year round.
Evergreen perennial.
Infrequent or rarely recorded in Britain.
Rare in the wild in Leicestershire and Rutland; the specimen from Castle Hill Country Park on 10th Jan 2016 is the first record of this species naturalised in VC55. It is occasionally grown in gardens.
It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.
Geoffrey Hall
Leicester, Castle Hill Country Park
10 January 2016
1st record for VC55
Geoffrey Hall
Leicester, Castle Hill Country Park
10 January 2016
1st record for VC55
Geoffrey Hall
Leicester, Castle Hill Country Park
10 January 2016
1st record for VC55
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
Enter a town or village to see local records
MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020
UK Map
Species profile
- Common names
- Western Sword-fern
- Species group:
- Ferns & Horsetails
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Polypodiales
- Family:
- Dryopteridaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 2
- First record:
- 10/01/2016 (Hall, Geoffrey)
- Last record:
- 17/10/2021 (Bedford, Frank)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
| Common name | Scientific name | Date recorded | Recorded by | Site name |
|---|