Fronds largest for the genus being up to 40 cm long. Stalk with scales. Blade divided 4 times. Ultimate segments pointed, mostly with a single vein extending nearly to the margin which may have a few teeth.
A rapidly-growing fern that may become weedy. The native, almost cosmopolitan A. leptophylla (L.) Link, Annual Fern, has a shiny reddish hairy stalk, segments with blunt tips and few if any hairs, blades divided 3 times and up to 20 cm long (though often less than 10 cm). It is occasionally cultivated.
Needs shelter and warmth.
C & S America, W Indies.
Source: (1995). Adiantaceae. In: . 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.
