A large prehistoric fern that grows in shady valleys, where the humidity rate is very high and subtropical climatic conditions occur.
It is Woodwardia radicans, also known as “bulb fern”, one of the botanical rarities of the island of Ischia, reported for the first time in 1838 by the distinguished scholar Giovanni Gussone, botanist of the Bourbon court from 1827 to 1860. He identified that fern, whose leaves exceeded two meters, in limited and uncontaminated areas, where the phenomena of secondary volcanism created a climate favorable to its life and its propagation. And he then quoted it in his volume “Enumeratio plantarium vascularium in insula Inarime”, published in 1855, which represents the most important and complete study of the flora of the island. It describes all the rare or endemic species he discovered during his assiduous explorations of the island territory, of which he had become a profound connoisseur.
Since Gussone's time, the stations of Woodwardia on the island of Ischia have been greatly reduced, but in at least one of them it continues to grow spontaneously.
Furthermore, spectacular specimens of Woodwardia are present on the island, even within the La Mortella Gardens.
In Campania, it grows naturally only in the Valle delle Ferriere in the Amalfi area and is then cultivated in the Botanical Gardens of Naplesand Portici, of which Giovanni Gussone was one of the historic founders.
