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Black-Stick Maidenhair

Adiantum tenerum, Pteridaceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

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

Also called Brittle Maidenhair Fern and Fan Maidenhair.

Black-Stick Maidenhair (Adiantum tenerum), the whole plant.
Daderot, CC0 · 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
Deep shade, 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
High Organic Matter; pH Acid (<6.0)
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 the fern once the upper 1 inch of soil is dry.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Propagation
Division gives the best results. This fern grows to a maximum of 18 inches in height and 24 inches in width, with a delicate, arching, cascading habit.
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 Black-Stick Maidenhair (Adiantum tenerum) foliage.
Close upHayati Mayang Arum, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Black-Stick Maidenhair (Adiantum tenerum) growing in a pot.
In a potKembangraps, CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Adiantum tenerum, common name brittle maidenhair fern, is a species of maidenhair fern belonging to the family Pteridaceae.

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

Native range
Trop. & Subtrop. America
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Tropical and Subtropical America
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
rhizomatous lithophyte
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Fern, Perennial; habit arching, cascading
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 12–18 in; width 12–24 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.