Black maidenhair fern

Adiantum capillus-veneris

Adiantum capillus-veneris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pteridophyta
Class:	Pteridopsida
Order:	Pteridales
Family:	Adiantaceae
Genus:	Adiantum
Species:	A. capillus-veneris
Binomial name
Adiantum capillus-veneris L.

Adiantum capillus-veneris, the Southern maidenhair fern, black maidenhair fern, and venus hair fern, is a species of fern in the genus Adiantum with a subcosmopolitan worldwide distribution. It is cultivated as a popular garden fern and houseplant.

Distribution

Adiantum capillus-veneris is native to the southern half of the United States from California to the Atlantic coast, through Mexico and Central America, to South America. It is also native to Eurasia, the Levant in Western Asia, and Australasia.

It is found in temperate climates from warm-temperate to tropical, where the moisture content is high but not saturating, in the moist, well-drained sand, loam or limestone many habitats, including rainforests, shrub and woodlands, broadleaf and coniferous forests, and desert cliff seeps, and springs. It will often be seen growing on sheltered and shaded south-facing limestone formations, kept moist by moving water.

Description

The Adiantum capillus-veneris fern grows from 6 to 12 in (15 to 30 cm) in height; its fronds arising in clusters from creeping rhizomes 20 to 70 cm (8 to 28 in) tall, with very delicate, light green fronds much subdivided into pinnae 5 to 10 mm (0 to 0 in) long and broad; the frond rachis is black and wiry.

Cultivation

Adiantum capillus-veneris is cultivated and widely available around the world for planting in natural landscape native plants and traditional shade gardens, for outdoor container gardens, and commonly as an indoor houseplant.

Conservation

The fern is listed as an endangered species in North Carolina (as southern maidenhair-fern) and threatened species in Kentucky (as venus hair fern), due to loss of Appalachian habitat.

References

External links

• Adiantum capillus-veneris - Southern maidenhair fern — U.C. Cal-Photo Gallery
• USDA Profile for Adiantum capillus-veneris (common maidenhair fern)
• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Adiantum capillus-veneris
• U.C. Jepson Manual treatment for Adiantum capillus-veneris
• Adiantum capillus-veneris in the Canary Islands
• Chrono.uk: Spore-pollen studies
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Horticultural Growing Conditions and Propagation

Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiantum_capillus-veneris