Friends of Black Hill and Morialta Incorporated

Adiantum sp. in Black Hill, Morialta and Horsnell Gully Conservation Parks

ADIANTACEAE

Adiantum aethiopicum
Horsnell Gully, 24 December 2008

Adiantum sp.
maiden-hair ferns

When some people think of maiden-hair ferns, they think of sensitive house plants, but we have two species on the plant lists which grow in Black Hill, and Morialta Conservation Parks, and one on the Horsnell Gully plant list. These ferns are found in damper places in the Parks, and die back in summer, to sprout again from their underground rhizomes when wetter weather comes.

• Adiantum aethiopicum
• Adiantum capillus-veneris

Adiantum aethiopicum the common maiden-hair, can be distinguished from the other species as the spores on the backs of the leaves, which are the fruiting parts, occur in the notches of the leaves. The name, aethiopicum, is an old name for South Africa, and indicates this species is also found in South Africa.
 

See how the spores are formed in a horse-shoe shape on the backs of the leaves.

A closer view showing the arrangement of the spore around the notches in the leaves.

Adiantum capillus-veneris, a maiden-hair fern, can be distinguished from the other species as the spores on the backs of the leaves, occur on the edges of the leaves. The name capillus-veneris means hairy Venus.

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New page added 24 December 2008