Native Lady Fern and Japanese Fern hybrid

[NancyL]

I took a class at our annual MG training day on Native ferns and found out that our native Lady Fern will cross with other ferns, that explains why had had this strange fern burst forth in the garden a year ago. With the robustness of Lady Ferns I think this one will move on to our plant sale next spring. I kept thinking that all the ferns coming up were runaway Ostrich ferns but I know better now.

[Chris_W]

Is this by any chance Athyrium Red Beauty? This one is grown from spores, I believe, and every batch I've grown of Red Beauty grew plants like these. I don't think it is a hybrid in the garden because of the really long time it takes for a spore to become that large of a fern.

We have an area about 6' x 6' of Red Beauty that all looks like this - I won't grow it again but sometimes people really like the green/painted mutations so we dig one for them

[NancyL]

Chris - it could be - I was just looking at those silvery fronds and thinking it was a cross with lady fern. I will cut them out when I get back to MD and see if that stops it. It is getting awful big and unruly unlike the more genteel silvery painted ferns. Maybe I out to dog down and see if there is a silvery painted fern seedling in there. Thanks for the help!