Japanese Climbing Fern, Lygodium japonicum (Thunb. ex Murr.) Sw., is an invasive exotic vine like fern found mostly in the deep south. It can be distinguished from the American climbing fern, L. palmatum (Bernh.) Sw., by the leaves, which are pinately compound on Japanese climbing fern, but palmate on both the native climbing and the exotic Old World climbing fern, L. microphyllum (cav.) R. Br., which is an invasive in southern Florida. The habitat of American climbing fern is swamps, streams, and ravines, and it doesn't spread widely.
