Adiantum reniforme
An unusual maidenhair with undivided, round to kidney-shaped leaves edged by a thin red line of spore covers, native to Madeira, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, with a second variety (var. asarifolium) scattered across East Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. It grows in shaded rock crevices and on walls, where roots stay cool and moist but drainage is sharp. It is slow and prefers mild, humid conditions without heat or waterlogging.
Where it grows wild
Rock crevices, shaded cliffs, ravine sides and old walls, often in the humid zone of laurel forest and its margins on the Atlantic islands. The short rhizome wedges into cracks with little soil, where moisture seeps but water never stands.
Recorded elevations run from sea level to about 1,960 m, median about 740 m (79 records). On Madeira and the Canaries most plants grow in the cloud-influenced middle zone of roughly 300–1,200 m; the Réunion plants reach higher into montane forest.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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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.