Nephrolepis undulata(Afzel. ex Sw.) J.Sm.

Annual Sword Fernannual swordfern

WFO wfo-0001107787 Accepted WFO 2026-06 3 photographs CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–c · 1 observation

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 1 time, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Nephrolepis undulata, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. a Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-03-12 / obs. 183109330
Nephrolepis undulata, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. b Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 183109292
Nephrolepis undulata, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. c Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 183109319

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 56 botanical countries

Regions where Nephrolepis undulata is native: Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Réunion, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Galápagos, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Panamá, Puerto Rico, Venezuela AngolaBeninBurundiCameroonCentral African RepublicChadDR CongoEquatorial GuineaEthiopiaGabonGhanaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliMozambiqueNigeriaRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasPanamáPuerto RicoVenezuela Cape VerdeComorosRéunionGalápagos
Native distribution of Nephrolepis undulata, 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
Cape Verde CVI
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Comoros COM
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Réunion REU
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Socotra SOC
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Bolivia BOL SOUTHERN AMERICA
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Galápagos GAL
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Panamá PAN
Puerto Rico PUE
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Not drawn on the map: Socotra. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

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.

Also published as 7 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.

  • Aspidium undulatum Afz
  • Nephrolepis cordifolia f. aureoglandulosa Bonap.
  • Nephrolepis cordifolia var. compacta Bonap.
  • Nephrolepis cordifolia var. undulata (Afzel. ex Sw.) C.Chr.
  • Nephrolepis tuberosa var. undulata Mett.
  • Nephrolepis tuberosa var. undulata (Afzel. ex Sw.) Kuhn
  • Nephrolepis undulata var. aureoglandulosa (Bonap.) Tardieu

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.