Maidenhair fern
Adiantum capillus-veneris L.
- light
- Part–shade
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 38 cm
- wide
- 38 cm
Pteridaceae
Also called Maidenhair Fern, Australian maidenhair fern, Black maidenhair, Common maidenhair, Common maidenhair fern
Formerly Adiantum affine, Adiantum africanum, Adiantum capillaceum, Adiantum cuneifolium, and 17 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Perennial or lithophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- CosmopolitanKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade to shade (under 6 h)Read from NC State Extension, RHS and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by all 3 sources
- Height
- 15 cm to 61 cmRead from NC State Extension, RHS and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by 2 of 3 sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 10–24 in; RHS 0.1–0.5 m; UF/IFAS 0.5–2 ft
- Spread
- 25 cm to 51 cmRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 10–24 in; RHS 0.1–0.5 m
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, RHS and UF/IFAS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by 2 of 3 sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension medium; RHS medium; UF/IFAS high
- Coldest it survives
- -6.7 °C (USDA zone 9a)Read from NC State Extension, RHS and UF/IFAS, checked: the middle of what its sources sayThe middle of 3 sources, which all differ. Sources differ: NC State Extension -23.3 °C; RHS -5 °C; UF/IFAS -6.7 °C
Not known yet: flowers, heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (10)
- Dutch
- Echt venushaar-complex, Echt venushaar
- Chinese
- 猪毛针, 猪鬃草, 铁线蕨
- Simplified Chinese
- 铁线蕨
- Catalan
- Falzia
- Asturian
- golondriyu de fonte
- Bulgarian
- венерин косъм
- Welsh
- briger Gwener
- French
- Capillaire cheveu-de-Vénus, Capillaire de Montpellier, Cheveu-de-venus
- Hawaiian
- ʻIwaʻiwa, ʻIwaʻiwa hāwai, ʻIwaʻiwa kahakaha
- Slovenian
- venerini laski
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- UF/IFAS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 4.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Adiantum capillus-veneris (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.