Pleopeltis lepidopteris 'Morro dos Conventos' is a cultivar selected from plants native to the beach and coastal scrub of Morro dos Conventos in southern Brazil, a landscape shaped by salt wind, sand, and the particular intensity of southern Atlantic light. The fronds are leathery and strap-like, covered in the small scales that give the species its name, and have the dense, slightly rough texture of a plant accustomed to exposed conditions. Hardy in zones 7 to 9, it tolerates drought with more equanimity than most ferns.

In the garden it functions as an unusual textural accent, particularly useful in coastal or xeric settings where traditional ferns would struggle. Deer tend to leave it alone, which adds to its practical appeal in rural gardens. It is still relatively rare in cultivation outside botanical garden collections, which makes encountering one something of a find — a plant with a specific address on a specific beach, brought into the garden world through the careful eye of collectors like those at JC Raulston Arboretum.