Microsorum Thailandicum Blue Oil Fern

The Blue Oil Fern is one of the most unusual houseplants you can grow, with simple, lance shaped fronds that shimmer an iridescent blue green under shaded light. That color is not a pigment. It comes from microscopic cellulose fibers layered in the leaf surface that reflect light the way a soap bubble does, and it is most vivid when the plant is kept out of bright light. Native to shaded limestone rainforest in Thailand, it grows low and spreads slowly into a layered mat rather than growing upright.

Keep it in medium to low, indirect light and consistently moist, well drained, aerated soil, and its color will stay at its best. Too much light will fade the blue and green it up instead. It is a slow, compact grower that suits a terrarium, a shelf, or a small pot on a shaded windowsill, and it makes an eye catching centerpiece for a shade loving houseplant collection.

For more shade tolerant houseplant ideas, browse our ferns collection, and read our guide to the best ferns for your home for care tips that apply across the fern family.

Add the Blue Oil Fern to your indoor collection and enjoy a genuinely rare splash of color.