Adiantum aethiopicum L.

Maidenhair Fern

Rhizome thin, creeping by runners above or below ground. Fronds divided 2-3 times. Blade ovate in outline, about 30 cm long. Stalks and midrib shiny brown, hairless. Segments fan-shaped, to 1 cm or so wide, mostly wider than long, outer margin without teeth or with shallow lobes, pale green, stalk centrally attached. Sori mostly 2-4 in the notches of the frond segments; indusium hairless.

Will tolerate cool conditions.

Australia, Lord Howe I., NZ, Africa (tropical and subtropical)

Similar to A. capillus-veneris but a spreading fern with a smaller habit and segments; scales on the rhizome and base of the frond stalk are toothed; there are fewer indusia that are positioned in segment notches, not along the margin. Differs from A. raddianum in having segments only shallowly lobed and mostly wider than long.

Source: Spencer, R. (1995). Adiantaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

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Distribution map
kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Polypodiopsida
order     Polypodiales
family      Pteridaceae
genus       Adiantum L.