Melanie, it was just a guess on my part ... I'm not good at identifying plants by comparing photos, the fern just looked a lot like the invasive ferns I had at our old house.
Cheryl, I have to admit that the invasive ferns in our yard was my fault! Back in the mid 70's a friend had them growing on their property and I thought they were so pretty I asked if I could have a couple. I didn't know about invasive plants in those days but my plan was to keep the ferns in hanging baskets; I hung one of the baskets in a backyard tree where it escaped and spread to the point that they became almost impossible to eradicate.
I was working 15-16 hour days in those days and the Sword Fern,
Cape Honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) and
Four o'Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) took over more than a quarter of our backyard! We'd try to keep it all cut back on weekends but it became impossible. We finally got the ferns out but the Four O'clocks and Cape Honeysuckle were still pretty thick on the other side of the fence on county property. The county folks would come once a year (at best) and mow everything down but the roots were still there and the stuff would sprout back tenfold. About eight years ago I worked from sunup to sundown, every day for a month or more, digging up huge and very heavy Four O'clock tubers and some of the runners from the Cape Honeysuckle. I finally gave up because they all seemed to multiply overnight, especially during our summer rains. I'd use the riding mower in our yard and get as close to the fence as I could to mow down the runners in the lawn but since the county didn't keep the property clear I couldn't completely eradicate it. We sold that house and I drove by there a couple of days ago and noticed that the Four O'clocks are about 5 feet tall and the Cape Honeysuckle has taken over, growing way up into the trees and along the fence ... it was in full bloom and really beautiful but oh what a headache it is to try and control!
Melanie, Are you in or near Hillsborough County? There's a UF Extension Service office in Seffner:
https://www.google.com/maps/pl... and I bet if you could take a fern to them, they'd be able to correctly ID it for you.