Elaphoglossum sinii MD12-66

A very rare member of this famously lustrous fern genus, this species is found only in two provinces of China. Possessed of delightfully round fronds that never fail to elicit cries of "that's a fern!", and that each with their glossy, pebbled texture look very much like fallen scales of some great dragon or dinosaur. The magic continues when the acrostichoid sporangia emerge, cloaking the entire back surface in what looks like fine black soot. Flora of China describes the rhizomes as long creeping but this hasn't been the case for us thus far as they have plodded along with small clumps with only a few new leaves at a time. We recently planted this out in our tufa wall and it already shows signs of increased vigor though so perhaps it just dislikes the confines of black plastic. Cold hardiness to be determined but we feel good about its chances in the PNW, a rocky substrate is desirable and a touch less moisture than most ferns.