Maidenhair fern
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| Maidenhair fern | ||||||||||||
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 Northern Maidenhair (Adiantum pedatum) | ||||||||||||
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Maidenhair ferns are ferns of the genus Adiantum, which contains about 200 species. It is 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.
Adiantumhispidulum1web.jpg
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 and 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.
Adiantumraddianum1web.jpg
Two species are commonly native to the eastern United States, with one of these common to western Europe. The Five-finger fern (Adiantum pedatum) is a distinctively American species, with a highly distinctive frond form and a bifurcating frond that radiates pinnae on one side only (see photo in taxobox). It grows from sub-arctic North America 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 Isles.
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.
Species
- Adiantum abscissum
- Adiantum aculeolatum
- Adiantum adiantoides
- Adiantum aethiopicum : Common Maidenhair, True Maidenhair.
- Adiantum alarconianum
- Adiantum aleuticum : Aleutian Maidenhair, Five-fingered Fern
- Adiantum amazonicum
- Adiantum amblyopteridium
- Adiantum amelianum
- Adiantum anceps : Double Edge Maidenhair
- Adiantum aneitense
- Adiantum angustatum
- Adiantum annamense
- Adiantum atroviride
- Adiantum bellum : Bermuda Maidenhair
- Adiantum bessoniae
- Adiantum blumenavense
- Adiantum boliviense
- Adiantum bonatianum
- Adiantum bonii
- Adiantum breviserratum
- Adiantum calcareum
- Adiantum capillus-junonis
- Adiantum capillus-veneris : Black Maidenhair, True Maidenhair Fern, Venus Hair, Southern Maidenhair.
- Adiantum caudatum : Tailed Maidenhair
- Adiantum celebicum
- Adiantum christii
- Adiantum comoroense
- Adiantum concinum : Polished Maidenhair, Brittle Maidenhair
- Adiantum coreanum
- Adiantum crespianum
- Adiantum cuneatiforme
- Adiantum cuneatum
- Adiantum cunninghamii
- Adiantum cupreum
- Adiantum curvatum
- Adiantum davidii
- Adiantum diaphanum : Filmy Maidenhair, Small Maidenhair.
- Adiantum diphyllum
- Adiantum discretodenticulatum
- Adiantum dissimulatum
- Adiantum edgeworthii
- Adiantum elegantulum
- Adiantum emarginatum : California Maidenhair
- Adiantum erylliae
- Adiantum erythrochlamys
- Adiantum excisum
- Adiantum fengianum
- Adiantum fimbriatum
- Adiantum formosum : Giant Maidenhair
- Adiantum fossarum
- Adiantum fragile : Fragile Maidenhair
- Adiantum gertrudis
- Adiantum gibbosum
- Adiantum gingkoides
- Adiantum glabrum
- Adiantum glaureosum
- Adiantum glaucescens
- Adiantum glaucinum
- Adiantum glaziovii
- Adiantum gomphophyllum
- Adiantum gracile
- Adiantum gravesii
- Adiantum grossum
- Adiantum hispidulum : Rough Maidenhair, Rosy Five-fingered Fern
- Adiantum hollandiae
- Adiantum hornei
- Adiantum hosei
- Adiantum imbricatum
- Adiantum incertum
- Adiantum incisum
- Adiantum intermedium
- Adiantum jordanii : California Maidenhair
- Adiantum juxtapositum
- Adiantum kendalii
- Adiantum kingii
- Adiantum klossii
- Adiantum lamrianum
- Adiantum latifolium : Broadleaf Maidenhair
- Adiantum lenvingei
- Adiantum lianxianense
- Adiantum lindenii
- Adiantum lonrentzii
- Adiantum lucidum
- Adiantum lunulatum
- Adiantum macrocladum
- Adiantum macrophyllum : Largeleaf Maidenhair
- Adiantum madagascariense
- Adiantum malaliense
- Adiantum malesianum
- Adiantum mariesii
- Adiantum mcvaughii
- Adiantum melanoleucum : Fragrant Maidenhair
- Adiantum mendoncae
- Adiantum menglianense
- Adiantum mettenii
- Adiantum mindanaense
- Adiantum monochlamys
- Adiantum monosorum
- Adiantum multisorum
- Adiantum myriosorum
- Adiantum neoguineense
- Adiantum novae-caledoniae
- Adiantum nudum
- Adiantum oaxacanum
- Adiantum obliquum : Oblique Maidenhair
- Adiantum ogasawarense
- Adiantum opacum
- Adiantum ornithopodum
- Adiantum ovalescens
- Adiantum palaoense
- Adiantum papillosum
- Adiantum paraense
- Adiantum patens
- Adiantum pearcei
- Adiantum pedatum : Northern Maidenhair, Five-fingered Fern
- Adiantum peruvianum : Silver-dollar Fern
- Adiantum petiolatum : Stalked Maidenhair
- Adiantum philippense
- Adiantum phyllitidis
- Adiantum platyphyllum
- Adiantum polyphyllum : Giant Maidenhair
- Adiantum pseudotinctum
- Adiantum pulchellum
- Adiantum pulcherrimum
- Adiantum pulverulentum : Glossy Maidenhair
- Adiantum pumilum
- Adiantum pyramidale : Pyramid Maidenhair
- Adiantum raddianum : Delta Maidenhair
- Adiantum rectangulare
- Adiantum reniforme
- Adiantum rhizophorum
- Adiantum robinsonii
- Adiantum roborowskii
- Adiantum rondoni
- Adiantum rubellum
- Adiantum rufopetalum
- Adiantum scabrum
- Adiantum schmalzii
- Adiantum schmidtchenii
- Adiantum schweinfurthii
- Adiantum semiorbiculatum
- Adiantum senae
- Adiantum serratifolium
- Adiantum siamense
- Adiantum silvaticum
- Adiantum soboliferum
- Adiantum sordidum
- Adiantum stenochlamys
- Adiantum stolzii
- Adiantum tenerum : Fan Maidenhair, Brittle Maidenhair
- Adiantum tenuissimum
- Adiantum tetragonum
- Adiantum tetraphyllum : Fourleaf Maidenhair
- Adiantum thalictroides
- Adiantum trapeziforme : Diamond Maidenhair
- Adiantum tricholepis : Fuzzy Maidenhair
- Adiantum trilobum
- Adiantum tripteris
- Adiantum venustum : Evergreen Maidenhair, Hardy Maidenhair, Himalayan Maidenhair.
- Adiantum villosissimum
- Adiantum villosum : Woolly Maidenhair
- Adiantum viridescens
- Adiantum viridimontanum : Green Mountain Maidenhair
- Adiantum vivesii : Puerto Rico Maidenhair
- Adiantum wattii
- Adiantum wilsonii : Wilson's Maidenhair
- Adiantum zollingeri
External links
Section Eclectic herbal information
- Adiantum pedatum (Maidenhair Fern) (http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/kings/adiantum.html) King's American Dispensatory @ Henriette's Herbal
- Maidenhair, True (http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/f/ferns-08.html#maitru) Mrs. Grieve's "A Modern Herbal" @ Botanical.comde:Frauenhaarfarne