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Bush Maidenhair Fern

Adiantum aethiopicum, Pteridaceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

Not yet rated How forgiving it is has not been judged here yet.

Also called Common Maidenhair Fern, Maidenhair and True Maidenhair.

Bush Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum aethiopicum), the whole plant.
Notafly, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Toxicity is partly unassessed

  • Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for people. NC State Extension publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.

What the sources say about its care

Light
Partial Shade
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Water
Good Drainage, Moist
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%
Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Soil
Clay, High Organic Matter, Loam (Silt), Sand; pH Acid (<6.0), Neutral (6.0-8.0)
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
No record of poisoning in people is listed for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Watering
Water twice a week, using rainwater or distilled water, as the plant is sensitive to fluoride. Fronds may turn brown if it gets too little water.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Feeding
Frequent feeding is not needed. When required, give a balanced liquid fertilizer roughly every 4 to 6 weeks.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Propagation
Division or spores can be used for propagation.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Move something and watch

Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.

Close view of Bush Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum aethiopicum) foliage.
Close upMacleay Grass Man, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Bush Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum aethiopicum) growing wild.
In the wildMacleay Grass Man, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Adiantum aethiopicum, also known as the common maidenhair fern, is a small fern of widespread distribution, occurring in Africa, Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026

Native range
Trop. & S. Africa, Madagascar, Australasia to New Caledonia
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Tropical & S. Africa, Madagascar, & Australasia to New Caledonia
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Climate
wet tropical
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
Fern, Perennial; habit clumping, erect, horizontal, spreading
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 4–18 in; width 4–18 in
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
Non-flowering
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Other Adiantum

More of the Pteridaceae family

Plants with similar care

Sources

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.