A LITTLE MORE LIFE
Kupukupu
Nephrolepis cordifolia
Native fern foliage adds groundcover and helps protect shaded soil.
MAKE IT FEEL AT HOME
A spot to thrive.
Use Hawaiian nursery stock: naturalized sword ferns can be confused with natives. Keep soil moist; this species is introduced in the continental US.
- Sunlight
- Shade
- Soil moisture
- Average moisture
- Mature size
- 1–3 ft tall · 1–4 ft wide
- Season of interest
- Year-round fern foliage
- Local climate
- Choose by island, elevation, and rainfall.
- Garden role
- Soft native fern texture
ONE GOOD SWAP
Instead of japanese holly fern.
Cyrtomium falcatum
Try kupukupu for soft native fern texture.
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Photo credits & licenses
Kupukupu: Forest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0
Japanese holly fern: Stan Sheb · CC BY-SA 3.0
Resized, converted to WebP, and cropped in the layout. Each photo retains its listed license. All photo credits