Lygodium microphyllum(Cav.) R.Br.

small-leaf climbing fern

WFO wfo-0001109621 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Lygodium microphyllum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. a Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-14 / obs. 197947595
Lygodium microphyllum, photographed by Theo Summer
fig. b Theo Summer, CC0 1.0 / obs. 192542630
Lygodium microphyllum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. c Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190518787
Lygodium microphyllum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. d Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190518991
Lygodium microphyllum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. e Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190519031
Lygodium microphyllum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. f Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190518561
Lygodium microphyllum, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. g Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 188224992
Lygodium microphyllum, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. h Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 185255791

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 64 botanical countries

Regions where Lygodium microphyllum is native: Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Caroline Is., Fiji, Line Is., Marianas, New Caledonia AngolaBeninBurundiCameroonCentral African RepublicChadDR CongoEquatorial GuineaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMaliMozambiqueNigeriaSenegalSierra LeoneTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanTaiwanAssamBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern AustraliaFijiNew Caledonia MauritiusNansei-shotoAndaman Is.Caroline Is.Line Is.Marianas
Native distribution of Lygodium microphyllum, 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
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Mali MLI
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
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
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Fiji FIJ
Line Is. LIN
Marianas MRN
New Caledonia NWC
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU

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 2,013 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 10.6 °C 13.1 °C 22.7 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 26.6 °C 31.0 °C 32.0 °C
Annual rainfall 1,203 mm 1,433 mm 2,901 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 104 mm 171 mm 495 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 2,013 research-grade observations of Lygodium microphyllum 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 6 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.

  • Lygodium scandens var. intermedium Ces.
  • Lygodium scandens var. microphyllum (Cav.) Bonap.
  • Lygodium scandens var. microphyllum (Cav.) Luerss.
  • Ophioglossum filiforme Roxb.
  • Trichomanes cochinchinense Poir.
  • Ugena microphylla Cav.

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. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. 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.