Common name: Maidenhair Fern
Family: Adiantaceae, Maidenhair
Height x width: 12-18" x 12-18"
Growth rate: moderate
Fronds: on narrow, polished, reddish-brown wiry stalk at ends; branched into fan-shaped with pinnules (leaflets of pinnate leaf) triangular oblong with irregular shallow lobes
Sori: on the pinnule lobe edges
Hardiness: varies with species
Soil: moist, may grow better in higher pH soils
Light: filtered shade
Pests and Problems: leafspots if excessive humidity and low light
Landscape habit, uses: woodlands, native gardens, edges of shade borders
Other interest: from the Greek adiantos meaning unwetted, refering to impermeable leaves of some species shedding water
Other culture: low maintenance, prevent drying--leaves die if dried out; provide good air circulation to prevent disease
Propagation: spring division, spores
Species:
• hispidulum (his-pi' du-lum)--Rosy Maidenhair, zones 7-10, native to tropics, rosy spring growth turning dark green, horseshoe-shaped fronds
• jordanii (jor-dan' ee-ii)--California Maidenhair, zones 7-10, native to U.S. west coast, pale green young fronds, prefers continuous dampness
• pedatum (pe-daa' tum)--Northern Maidenhair, zones 3-8, native to N. America and east Asia, the 8-20 forked pinnate leaf segments are in a horseshoe arrangement from the central stalk
• raddianum (raid-dee-aa' num)--Delta Maidenhair, zones 8-10, native to central and So. America, natural habitat is rocky cliffs and neutral to alkaline soils, many cultivars, more seen outside U.S.
• tenerum (te-nair' um)--Brittle Maidenhair, zones 7-10, native to tropics where popular and many cultivars
• venustum (ve-noose' tum)--Evergreen Maidenhair, zones
9-10, native to Himalayas and Afganistan
The following may be found in U.S. commerce, although the species are
most common, the Southern and Northern Maidenhairs usually offered for
outdoors.
| Cultivar | species | fronds, habit, other |
| var. aleuticum | pedatum | deeply cut, pendulous, hardy to Alaska |
| 'Bridal Veil' | raddianum | drooping, segments teardrop-shaped |
| 'Eco Aurora-borealis' | pedatum | ruffled, overlapping |
| 'Elegans' | raddianum | lobed, wedge-shaped segments |
| 'Fergusonii' | tenerum | new growth pink, terminal lobes fused |
| 'Fimbriatum' | capillus-veneris | segments deeply cut, finger-like lobes |
| 'Imbricatum' | capillus-veneris | smaller 'Fimbriatum', cascading fronds |
| 'Japonicum' | pedatum | pinkish-bronze when new |
| 'Micropinnulum' | raddianum | long weeping fronds, tiny segments |
| 'Miss Sharples' | pedatum | large chartreuse leaflets |
| 'Montanum' | pedatum | compact, denser than the species |
| 'Pacific Maid' | raddianum | large erect frond, overlapping segments, hardy |
| subsp. subpumilum | pedatum | dwarf, glaucous, pinnules overlap, Pacific NW |
| 'Variegatum' | raddianum | upright, segments flecked white |
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