Common Rockcap Fern

September 17, 2025

A surprising fern that grows on large boulders and smaller rocks, ledges, decaying logs and tree roots, sometimes in a location that has no soil at all. Its roots aid in breaking down rocks to create soil.

This evergreen fern is Common Rockcap Fern (Polypodium virginianum), native to the eastern United States and Canada. Its fronds are 10 to 12 inches long. Along with its ability to live where there is no soil, it also can lose most of its water content during a dry spell by going dormant. Once the dried out plant gets rained upon, it will unfurl, and turn green again.

Quite the plant!

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.