Plantae > Tracheophyta > Polypodiopsida > Polypodiales > Pteridaceae > Adiantum > Adiantum capillus-veneris

Adiantum capillus-veneris (common maidenhair fern; common maidenhair; venus hairfern)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

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

Infraspecies

Adiantum capillus-veneris capillus-veneris
Adiantum capillus-veneris f. capillus-veneris
Adiantum capillus-veneris f. lanyuanum
Adiantum capillus-veneris lanyuanum
Adiantum capillus-veneris var. trifidum

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Screening - Summer [2]  Porous
Screening - Winter [2]  Porous
Bloom Period [2]  Summer
Drought Tolerance [2]  None
Edible [3]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [2]  None
Frost Free Days [2]  4 months
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  Medium
Fruit/Seed Begin [2]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [2]  Fall
Growth Form [2]  Rhizomatous
Growth Period [2]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [2]  Moderate
Hazards [3]  Although we have found no reports of toxicity for this species, a number of ferns contain carcinogens so some caution is advisable; Many ferns also contain thiaminase, an enzyme that robs the body of its vitamin B complex. In small quantities this enzyme will do no harm to people eating an adequate diet that is rich in vitamin B, though large quantities can cause severe health problems. The enzyme is destroyed by heat or thorough drying, so cooking the plant will remove the thiaminase;
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Propagation [2]  Bare Root, Seed
Regrowth Rate [2]  Slow
Root Depth [2]  1.968 inches (5 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [2]  Slow
Seed Vigor [2]  Medium
Seeds Per [2]  2999994 / lb (6613860 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [2]  Erect
Structure [3]  Fern
Usage [3]  The leaves are used as a hair tonic and treatment for dandruff;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  Slow
Flower Color [2]  White
Foliage Color [2]  Green
Fruit Color [2]  Brown
Height [3]  12 inches (0.3 m)
Width [3]  12 inches (0.3 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [2]  USDA Zone: 3 Low Temperature: -40 F° (-40 C°) → -30 F° (-34.4 C°)
Light Preference [4]  Mostly Shady
Soil Acidity [4]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [4]  Mostly Infertile
Soil Moisture [4]  Damp
Water Use [2]  High
View Plants For A Future Record : Adiantum capillus-veneris

Protected Areas

Predators

Gloniella adianti[5]
Idiopterus nephrelepidis (fern aphid)[5]
Pounamococcus cuneatus[6]
Pulvinaria floccifera (cottony camellia scale)[7]
Saissetia coffeae (brown scale)[7]

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Hyalopsora adianti-capilli-veneris (Maidenhair Rust)[5]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 4ECOFACT 2a Technical Annex - Ellenberg’s indicator values for British Plants, M O Hill, J O Mountford, D B Roy & R G H Bunce (1999)
♦ 5Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 6New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Plant-SyNZ™ database
♦ 7Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0