Plantae > Tracheophyta > Polypodiopsida > Polypodiales > Athyriaceae > Athyrium > Athyrium filix-femina

Athyrium filix-femina (common ladyfern; lady fern; ladyfern; subarctic lady fern)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern or common lady-fern) is a large, feathery species of fern native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, where it is often abundant (one of the more common ferns) in damp, shady woodland environments and is often grown for decoration. Its common names "lady fern" and "female fern" refer to how its reproductive structures (sori) are concealed in an inconspicuous – deemed "female" – manner on the frond. Alternatively, it is said to be feminine because of its elegant and graceful appearance.
View Wikipedia Record: Athyrium filix-femina

Infraspecies

Asplenium filix-femina var. filix-femina
Athyrium filix-femina filix-femina (Lady Fern)
Athyrium filix-femina sitchense

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium
Screening - Summer [2]  Dense
Screening - Winter [2]  Porous
Drought Tolerance [2]  Low
Edible [3]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [2]  Low
Frost Free Days [2]  80 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  None
Growth Form [2]  Rhizomatous
Growth Period [2]  Spring, Summer, Fall
Growth Rate [2]  Moderate
Hazards [3]  The fresh shoots 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; Although we have found no reports for this species, a number of ferns also contain carcinogens so some caution is advisable;
Leaf Type [3]  Deciduous
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Propagation [2]  Container, Sprig
Regrowth Rate [2]  Slow
Root Depth [2]  12 inches (30 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [2]  None
Shape/Orientation [2]  Semi-Erect
Structure [3]  Fern
Usage [3]  A good ground cover plant; The cultivar 'Minor' has a denser habit and spreads more freely, making a better cover;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  Moderate
Fall Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Height [3]  24 inches (0.6 m)
Width [3]  20 inches (0.5 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [2]  USDA Zone: 3 Low Temperature: -40 F° (-40 C°) → -30 F° (-34.4 C°)
Light Preference [4]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [4]  Moderate Acid
Soil Fertility [4]  Intermediate
Soil Moisture [4]  Damp
Water Use [2]  Moderate
Foliage Color [2]  Green
View Plants For A Future Record : Athyrium filix-femina

Protected Areas

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Predators

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Cercosporella filicis-feminae[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.
♦ 6Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
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