Species library β€Ί Adiantum β€Ί Adiantum latifolium
Ferns Well documented

Adiantum latifolium

broadleaf maidenhair

A creeping, rhizomatous maidenhair fern with broad pinnules, native from southern Mexico and the Caribbean to Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina, and naturalised in tropical Asia. It is a tough, colony-forming species of shaded lowland forest floors, stream banks, forest edges and cacao plantations. It is warmer-growing and more forgiving than the delicate maidenhairs usually sold as houseplants.

Adiantum latifolium
Photo: Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Brazilian herbarium labels describe a terrestrial, shade-loving herb on forest floors, stream margins, lake edges, trail banks, forest edges, secondary forest and cabruca (shaded cacao) plantations. It spreads by creeping rhizomes into large populations, with fronds up to about 56 cm.

Most records reviewed are lowland, about 45–165 m. It is a plant of wet tropical lowlands and foothills.

MexicoBelizeGuatemalaHondurasEl SalvadorNicaraguaCosta RicaPanamΓ‘CubaJamaicaPuerto RicoLeeward Is.Windward Is.Trinidad-TobagoColombiaVenezuela

πŸ”’ Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

βœ“ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
βœ“ Humidity band, and how to hold it
βœ“ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
βœ“ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
βœ“ Substrate and airflow
βœ“ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.