Species · genus Adiantum · Pteridaceae

Northern Maidenhair

Adiantum pedatum L.

Also known as: Five-finger Fern · Northern Maidenhair Fern · Pointerweed · Maidenfern · Maidenhair

Growth habit

Unknown

Reference · A. pedatum

Cultivars of A. pedatum

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under A. pedatum yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Adiantum pedatum is the maidenhair fern, a delicate Pteridaceae species with fine, fan-shaped fronds on dark wiry stems. As a fern it has no water-storing tissue and resents both drying out and sitting wet, so keep the mix lightly and evenly moist and water when the surface just begins to feel dry to the touch. It wants steady humidity and indirect light; the fronds crisp quickly in dry air or direct sun.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 3-7d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Medium light

Water

≈ every 7 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

10–24 °C

Soil mix

Humus-rich, evenly moist well-draining mix

Propagation

Division of the rhizome, or spores

Fertilizing

Weak balanced feed monthly while actively growing

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Ferns don't flower — reproduce by spores

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 3-7d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Northern Maidenhair yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.