Botanical name:

Adiantum aethiopicum

Common name(s):

Maidenhair, makaka, true maidenhair

About:

This rhizomatous, clump-forming fern is commonly found in lowland forests and scrub from North Cape to Waikato, with a more scattered distribution extending south to Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa. Its delicate, light green fronds droop gracefully, reaching up to 30cm in length. The individual leaflets are distinctively fan-shaped, resembling the exotic maidenhair fern often grown as a houseplant. A. aethiopicum thrives both indoors and in shaded garden areas, where it prefers moist, rich soil for optimal growth.

Natural habitat:

Coastal to lowland. Despite its delicate appearance Adiantum aethiopicum is often found in very dry, exposed sites in short grassland, on clay pans, stable dunes systems, open scrub and forest. It is also occasionally found in periodically flooded ground in riparian forest and on damp clay banks in shaded gullies.

Growing environment:

Shade, Coastal & Wetland tolerant.

Endemic distribution:

New Zealand’s North Islands from Te Paki south to the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, thence rather localised and often absent from large areas until the Wairarapa. Recorded once from the Buller River gorge in the South Island but not seen recently in the South Island.

Height: 30cm

Flowering: N/A Spore producing

Fruiting: N/A

Uses:

Riparian plantings, Forests, Container & Indoor friendly

How to grow:

Easily grown from fresh spore or division.