Posting here because I think it has a lot more traffic than the fern forum does anymore.

To those who don't know, my garden is roughly 1 mile from the upper Ches. Bay, zone 7. This odd fern has spontaneously appeared in rather dry, and only semi-shaded parts of my garden. There are two more of them. I suppose the massive 15+ of rain we had in June could have triggered them to start growing, though I wouldn't think any fern could develop this fast. The leaves are very tough and leathery seeming, with a thick stem almost like a peony shoot or something, as you'd expect for something apparently drought resistant. (July was normal-ish but August has gotten dry, but they are still fine) I just watered it because I don't want it to die. None of my other wild ferns look like this. I had a Japanese Holly fern a few years ago but it died out after 2 years. It might have had time to release some spores though. The only other ferns in this area are some sensitive ferns, but the leaves are completely different in texture and appearance. So, it must have blown in from some distance. Whatever it is, it is clearly promising for its sun and dryness resistance. This one, that is shooting a new frond, is at the base of a tree, but gets full sun from 2-3pm onward because the canopy is lopsided.