Maidenhair Fern

The maidenhair ferns make up Adiantum, a genus of about 250 species in the family Pteridaceae, distinct from the similar-looking maidenhair spleenwort. Their dark, often black stalks carry bright green, delicately cut fronds that Kynes likens to strands of hair, and in spring the new fronds unroll from red fiddleheads. They like moist, well-drained ground rich in humus, from valley-bottom soils to sheer rock walls, and many grow around waterfalls and seeps. Species are most numerous in the Andes, with nearly 40 in China; the five-fingered fern is native to North America, and the Venus-hair fern is found across the world. Many are grown in horticulture. The genus name comes from the Greek for 'unwetted', because the fronds shed water. The Romans linked the fern with Venus, who rose from the sea with her hair dry, and in England, Wales and Ireland it was used against baldness. Legend crowns faeries with it on festive days, yet in Norfolk it was thought unlucky to bring indoors, and in Brazil a maidenhair that wilted under someone's gaze showed the evil eye at work. In magical practice a little maidenhair is soaked in water and then carried or kept where one sleeps, for grace, beauty and love.