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Adiantum capillus-veneris - Venus-hair fern |
Maidenhair ferns are ferns of the genus Adiantum of about 200 species, the only genus of the family Adiantaceae.
The genus name comes from the Greek, meaning "not wetting", referring to the fronds' ability to shed water without becoming wet.
Maidenhair ferns are distinctive in appearance, with dark, often black, stipes and rachises, and bright green, often delicately cut, leaf tissue.
The sori are borne submarginally, and are covered by reflexed flaps of leaf tissue which resemble indusia. Dimorphism between sterile an fertile fronds is generally subtle.
Maidenhair ferns generally prefer humus-rich, moist, well-drained sites, ranging from bottomland soils to vertical rock walls. Many species are especially known for growing on rock walls around waterfalls and water seepage areas.
Two species are commonly native to the eastern United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, with one of these common to western EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se. The five-finger fern , Adiantum pedatum, is a distinctively American species, with a highly distinctive frond form, with a bifurcating frondFrond refers to the leaf structure of ferns. The term is colloquially applied to the leaves of palms, cycads, and other plants with pinnately compound leaves. A significant difference is that, unlike the leaves of the latter, fern fronds bear the reproduc that radiates pinnae on one side only (see photo in taxobox). It grows from sub-arctic North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocea into the deep south of the U.S.
The other American species, which also grows in Europe, is the Venus-hair fern , Adiantum capillus-veneris. This fern is strictly a southern species in the U.S., and in Europe is confined to the mild, humid Atlantic fringes including the west of the British IslesThe British Isles is a traditional term used to identify the group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe consisting of Great Britain, Ireland and the many smaller adjacent islands. These islands form an archipelago of more than 6,000 islands off th.
Many species are grown in the horticultural trade, including both of the species mentioned, as well as a number of tropical species, including A. raddianum and A. peruvianum.