Fern · Ophioglossaceae
Rattlesnake fern
Botrychium virginianum
Rattlesnake fern is recorded as native to 47 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,491 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Rattlesnake fern at a glance
- Native in
- 1,491 counties, across 47 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1.4 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Rattlesnake fern is recorded as native to 47 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,491 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,491 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 39 counties
- Alaska 4 counties
- Arizona 2 counties
- Arkansas 69 counties
- California 1 county
- Colorado 1 county
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 10 counties
- Georgia 54 counties
- Idaho 8 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 78 counties
- Iowa 48 counties
- Kansas 38 counties
- Kentucky 107 counties
- Louisiana 37 counties
- Maine 12 counties
- Maryland 12 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Minnesota 66 counties
- Mississippi 27 counties
- Missouri 77 counties
- Nebraska 23 counties
- Nevada 1 county
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 20 counties
- New Mexico 1 county
- New York 61 counties
- North Carolina 64 counties
- North Dakota 14 counties
- Ohio 56 counties
- Oklahoma 7 counties
- Oregon 10 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Carolina 24 counties
- South Dakota 7 counties
- Tennessee 90 counties
- Texas 26 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 97 counties
- Washington 14 counties
- West Virginia 1 county
- Wisconsin 71 counties
- Wyoming 3 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.4 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 14 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 5.6 to 6.9
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 85
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Not recorded
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Not recorded
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Ophioglossaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- BOVI
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Botrychium virginianum (PLANTS symbol BOVI).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources