Adiantum

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Genus of ferns

title: "Adiantum" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["adiantum", "fern-genera", "botanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus"] description: "Genus of ferns" topic_path: "general/adiantum" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiantum" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of ferns ::

::callout[type=note] the plant ::

| fossil_range = Late Jurassic to Recent (Kimmeridgian-Holocene), | image = Adiantum pedatum 09905.JPG | image_caption = Western five-fingered fern (Adiantum aleuticum) | taxon = Adiantum | authority = L. | type_species = Adiantum capillus-veneris | type_species_authority = L. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | synonyms =

  • Hewardia Smith 1841 non Hooker 1851

Adiantum (), the maidenhair fern (not to be confused with the similar-looking maidenhair spleenwort fern), is a genus of about 250 species of ferns in the subfamily Vittarioideae of the family Pteridaceae, though some researchers place it in its own family, Adiantaceae. The genus name comes from Greek, meaning "unwetted", referring to the fronds' ability to shed water without becoming wet.

Description

They 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.

They 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.

The highest species diversity is in the Andes. Fairly high diversity also occurs in eastern Asia, with nearly 40 species in China.

Species native to North America include A. pedatum (five-fingered fern) and the closely related A. aleuticum, which are distinctive in having a bifurcating frond that radiates pinnae on one side only. The cosmopolitan A. capillus-veneris (Venus-hair fern) has a native distribution that extends into the eastern continent. A. jordanii (California Maidenhair) is native to the west coast.

There is a rich Adiantum flora in New Zealand with 3 endemic species (A. cunninghamii, A. viridescens and A. fulvum) in a total of 10 recorded species. Many of these are common especially in the west and south of the islands.

Cladistics

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Phylogeny of Adiantum
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List of species

Cultivation

Many species are grown in the horticultural trade. There are a number of tropical species, including A. raddianum and A. peruvianum. Both A. pedatum and A. aleuticum are hardy to zone 3, and are by far the most cold-hardy members of the genus. A. venustum is also cold-hardy to zone 5. A. capillus-veneris is hardy to zone 7. Hybrids, such as Adiantum × mairisii, are also popular.

Gallery

File:Adiantumhispidulum1web.jpg|Rough Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum hispidulum) File:Adiantum cunninghamii.jpg|Adiantum cunninghamii showing characteristic inrolled leaf margin containing sori File:Adiantum lunulatum W IMG_2337.jpg|Adiantum lunulatum in Goa, India. File:Adiantumraddianum1web.jpg|Delta Maidenhair (Adiantum raddianum)

References

References

  1. (1981). "La paleoflore Jurassique du Jura Francais: Etude systematique, aspects stratigraphiques et paleoecologiques". Travaux et Documents des Laboratoires de Géologie de Lyon.
  2. ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607
  3. (2022). "An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life". Frontiers in Plant Science.
  4. (2023). "Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL".
  5. (2015). "English Names for Korean Native Plants". [[Korea National Arboretum]].
  6. (18 February 2011). "A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns". [[Phytotaxa]].

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adiantumfern-generabotanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus