Adiantum hispidulum - Rough Maidenhair Fern - 15 Spore Pack - Exotic Fern - Flat Ship Rate - New

Adiantum, the maidenhair fern genus, is a genus of about 200 species of ferns in the Vittarioideae subfamily of the family Pteridaceae, though some researchers place it in its own family, Adiantaceae. The genus name comes from Greek, meaning "not wetting", referring to the fronds' ability to shed water without becoming wet. They are distinctive in appearance, with dark, often black stipes and rachises, and bright green, often delicately cut leaf tissue. The sori are borne submarginally, and are covered by reflexed flaps of leaf tissue which resemble indusia.

Dimorphism between sterile and fertile fronds is generally subtle. They generally prefer humus-rich, moist, well-drained sites, ranging from bottomland soils to vertical rock walls. Many species are especially known for growing on rock walls around waterfalls and water seepage areas.

Adiantum hispidulum commonly known as Rough Maidenhair Fern or Five-fingered Jack is a small fern of widespread distribution. It is found in Africa, Australia, Polynesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and other Pacific Islands. Adiantum hispidulum is grown as an ornamental plant that adapts readily to cultivation, although may be slow growing. It is more tolerant of sun and drying out than other fern species. Its fronds rise in clumps from rhizomes among rocks or in the soil in sheltered areas. It grows in tufts or clumps among rocks or from the ground, its fronds arising from the short dark clumped rhizomes. The dark stipe measures up to 45 cm in length. The fronds are divided into long and short narrow triangular or elliptic pinnae, each of which is divided again into smaller roughly rectangular, diamond-, or fan-shaped pinnules. Each pinnule may have 1 to 20 sori along its margins underneath. Young growth may have a pinkish tinge before it matures into the dark green foliage.