Adiantum capillus-veneris

Southern maidenhair

Family: Pteridaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Southern maidenhair is a California native perennial found in the northern Coast Ranges, high Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast, southern Coast Ranges, southwestern California, Great Basin, and desert regions in shaded, rocky or moist banks at elevations up to 2,300 meters. Its delicate, intricate fronds spread 20 to 40 centimeters long with distinctive dark brown to nearly black stems. Growing as a graceful fern with multiple layers of finely divided pinnate leaves, its fronds feature small pinnules with irregular lobes that often cut more than one-quarter way to the base. Its leaves have uniquely angled margins that converge at 45 to 90 degrees, creating an elegant, lacy appearance with complex leaf divisions. The fern produces distinctive sori (spore clusters) between 2 to 11 per pinnule, typically less than 5 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Uncommon (or locally common). Shaded, rocky or moist banks, exposed sites or not

Elevation: < 2300 m

Bioregions: NCoR, CaRF, n SNF, s SNH, SnJV, CCo, SCoRO, SW, GB, D

California counties: Santa Barbara, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Inyo, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Glenn, Merced, Mono, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Butte, Humboldt, Fresno, Tulare, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Mendocino, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Marin, Mariposa, Placer, Nevada, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.