The genus Woodwardia takes its name from Thomas Jenkinson Woodward, an eighteenth-century English botanist, but the plants themselves are far older than any botanist's attention. Fossil records place chain ferns in the Paleocene, and their basic form has remained persuasively unchanged. The common name refers to the sori, the spore-bearing structures arranged in long narrow rows along the central vein in a chain-like pattern visible on both sides of the frond. The secondary veins split and rejoin in a netlike pattern that is diagnostic once you know to look for it.

Two species are native to North Carolina: netted chain fern (Woodwardia areolata) and Virginia chain fern (Woodwardia virginica). Both prefer partial to full shade in organically rich, acidic, moist soil. Growing from 18 inches to four feet tall, they are substantial plants that work as groundcovers, specimens, or wildlife cover in woodland and native plant gardens. Their deer resistance and adaptability across zones 3 to 10 give them genuine utility in difficult shaded situations where lighter ferns would struggle.