(aka: Notholaena eckloniana) One of the most exciting plants we saw on our 2005 expedition to South Africa was a desert fern, Cheilanthes eckloniana. Although we have only dropped to 9 degrees F since we have had it in the garden, it has remained evergreen so far. The steely blue-green deer-resistant fronds emerge from the hairy tan croziers to form an 8″ tall x 8″ wide clump. These spore-grown offerings are from plants along the road to Eliot around 5500” elevation. Cheilanthes eckloniana is named after the 1800s Danish plant collector Christian Ecklon.
