All Topics  
Athyrium filix-femina

 
Athyrium Filix Femina

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Athyrium filix-femina
 
 
  Topics Athyrium filix-femina Topic Home

Athyrium filix-femina (Lady Fern or Common Lady-fern) is a large, feathery species of fern
Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
 native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
, where it is often abundant (one of the more common ferns) in damp, shady woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
 environments and is often grown for decoration.

The plant is caespitose (the fronds arising from a central point as a clump rather than along a rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
).






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Athyrium filix-femina'
Start a new discussion about 'Athyrium filix-femina'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Illustration Athyrium Filix Femina0
Athyrium filix-femina (Lady Fern or Common Lady-fern) is a large, feathery species of fern
Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
 native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
, where it is often abundant (one of the more common ferns) in damp, shady woodland
Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
 environments and is often grown for decoration.

The plant is caespitose (the fronds arising from a central point as a clump rather than along a rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
). The frond
Frond

A frond is a large leaf with many divisions to it, and the term is typically used for the leaves of Arecaceaes, ferns or cycads. A frond is the leaf- like structure of a fern or alga....
s are light yellow-green, 20-90 cm long and 5-25 cm broad; they are deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
. Sori appear as dots on the underside of the frond, 1-6 per pinnule. They are covered by a prominently whitish to brown reniform (kidney-shaped) indusium. Fronds are very dissected, being 3-pinnate. The stipe may bear long, pale brown, papery scales at the base.

Cultivation and uses

The rhizome
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
s and young fronds are poison
Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are Chemical substance that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
ous when raw, but edible after cooking.