I thought I had commented on an earlier photo, but I couldn't find it. I'm fairly certain it is a fern. It has the appearance of Polypodium aureum aka Phlebodium aureum. If it is, it is a subtropical, epiphytic fern. Like all epiphytes, including the Rabbit's Foot Fern, it grows along the branches and trunk of trees and sometimes shrubs. It should have a creeping rhizome covered with golden scales, but I can't see it in your photo. The backs of the leaves (fronds) should have fruit dots (sori) which are round and not covered by indusia (a thin papery covering). Check the following links for confirmation. The first one is a plant atlas with 5 photos. The other 2 are fern societies.

http://www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=3613&display=photos

http://amerfernsoc.org/home.html

http://www.laifs.org/

If you do decide to repot it, pot it in a shallower pot, either an azalea pot (2/3 height to width) or a bulb pan (1/2 height to width), and use a well-drained mixture such as osmunda or orchid bark. These may require fertilizing because there isn't much nutrition in them. I just repotted several epiphytic cactus in a mixture of 2 parts wood chips to 1 part potting soil. This may work for you and won't need fertilizer.

Posted by joem50 on 2009-07-09, 03:19:37   Report this as offensive.

If the Houston that you list is in Texas, try the Texas Gulf Coast Fern Society.

http://www.tgcfernsoc.org/

Posted by joem50 on 2009-07-09, 03:25:54   Report this as offensive.