Woodsia obtusa

Woodsia obtusa, also known as Blunt-lobed Woodsia, is a small evergreen and bright fern, which forms a light tuft composed of airy fronds of a light and matte green colour. It will settle on slopes, walls, limestone or siliceous rockeries, fitting into the smallest damp crevices. It is a very hardy species, which will thrive in shade or partial shade, in soil that is always damp but perfectly drained.

Woodsia obtusa is part of a very small family formed by the only genus Woodsia, which includes 20 to 30 species. It is a terrestrial botanical species, even a lithophyte, native to North America and the Andes, confined to damp cliffs and mostly limestone ledges.  Woodsia obtusa is a perennial fern that develops from a short and ascending rhizome. It forms small compact tufts with a vertical habit, reaching heights and widths of 25 cm (10in). The foliage is composed of light green to grey-green fronds, with a straw-yellow pubescent petiole, elliptical in shape and covered with whitish bristles on both sides. The lamina, 2 to 10 cm (1 to 4in) wide, is divided into 8 to 15 pairs of pinnae. The plant produces sori (small sacs containing spores) on the undersides of the leaves.

Among ferns from temperate zones around the world, Woodsia with rounded lobes is one of the most adaptable. Tolerating both limestone and acidic soils, it cannot withstand stagnant moisture, making it an ideal plant for damp rockeries or rocky areas near waterfalls. It colonises rocks covered with moss, steep walls, rocky cliffs, scree slopes, and settles in crevices in rocks or mortar sealing old walls. It pairs well with cyclamens, Helxine, Viola, and perennial Geranium nodosum. A tiny garden with a very Japanese feel can also be created by planting it between round and mossy stones, alongside Corsican Mint (Mentha requienii) or with a Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum').