Ampelopteris prolifera(Retz.) Copel.

WFO wfo-0001108273 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Ampelopteris prolifera, photographed by 葉子
fig. a 葉子, CC0 1.0 / 2022-03-05 / obs. 185029804
Ampelopteris prolifera, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. b Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 173276298
Ampelopteris prolifera, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. c Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 90603764
Ampelopteris prolifera, photographed by chiuluan
fig. d chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 64071528
Ampelopteris prolifera, photographed by chiuluan
fig. e chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182825375
Ampelopteris prolifera, photographed by chiuluan
fig. f chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182327127
Ampelopteris prolifera, photographed by chiuluan
fig. g chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 122350753
Ampelopteris prolifera, photographed by chen ying-hsiao
fig. h chen ying-hsiao, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 80968055

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 49 botanical countries

Regions where Ampelopteris prolifera is native: Angola, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Guinea, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, New Caledonia AngolaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCentral African RepublicDR CongoGuineaKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMalawiMozambiqueNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalTanzaniaZambiaZimbabweChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanTaiwanAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern AustraliaNew Caledonia Mauritius
Native distribution of Ampelopteris prolifera, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Angola ANG AFRICA
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
DR Congo ZAI
Guinea GUI
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Tanzania TAN
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Taiwan TAI
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU
New Caledonia NWC PACIFIC

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 277 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 11.4 °C 13.0 °C 15.7 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 29.1 °C 30.2 °C 31.8 °C
Annual rainfall 1,511 mm 2,163 mm 3,335 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 47 mm 103 mm 500 mm

It is not found anywhere that gets close to freezing. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 277 research-grade observations of Ampelopteris prolifera that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 20 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Abacopteris prolifera (Retz.) W.C.Shieh
  • Ampelopteris elegans Kunze
  • Ampelopteris firma Kunze
  • Aspidium proliferum (Retz.) Hieron.
  • Aspidium proliferum (Retz.) Christ
  • Cyclosorus prolifer (Retz.) Tardieu
  • Dryopteris prolifera (Retz.) C.Chr.
  • Goniopteris meniscioides Fée
  • Goniopteris prolifera (Retz.) C.Presl
  • Hemionitis prolifera Retz.
  • Meniscium proliferum (Retz.) Sw.
  • Nephrodium proliferum (Retz.) Keyserl.
  • Phegopteris luxurians (Kunze) Mett.
  • Phegopteris meniscioides (Fée) Ettingsh.
  • Phegopteris prolifera (Retz.) Kuhn
  • Polypodium luxurians Kunze
  • Polypodium proliferum Roxb.
  • Polypodium proliferum (Retz.) Roxb. ex Wall.
  • Thelypteris prolifera (Retz.) Vorster
  • Thelypteris prolifera (Retz.) C.F.Reed

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.