Flora-Fauna

Adiantum capillus-veneris L.

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 6; 1966. First published in Species Plantarum: 1096, 1753)

• Life-form & habit: Perennial fern, delicate, rhizomatous, forming loose tufts; rhizome creeping, slender, covered with dark brown scales.

• Fronds: 15–50 cm long, light green, arching; stipes slender, glossy, black to dark brown, glabrous, very thin yet firm. Lamina 2–3-pinnate; ultimate pinnules flabelliform to rhomboid, obliquely wedge-shaped, margins crenate to lobed. Veins repeatedly dichotomous, ending at margins beneath sori.

• Sori: Discrete, marginal, borne along the pinnule lobes; false indusium formed by reflexed margin of lamina, protecting sporangia.

• Phenology: Fertile fronds present nearly year-round in moist habitats.

• Habitat & elevation: Moist shaded rocks, springs, and dripping cliffs, often on limestone; from lowlands up to c. 1,200 m.

• Lebanese distribution: Common in humid valleys and gorges; reported from Beirut, Nahr el-Kalb, Jezzine, Jabal Barouk, Ehden, Bcharré, and the Beqaa.

• Syrian distribution: Damascus region, Lattaquié, Jabal Ansarieh, Anti-Lebanon.

• Native range: Afghanistan, Alabama, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Arizona, Arkansas, Assam, Azores, Bahamas, Baleares, Bangladesh, Belize, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, British Columbia, Bulgaria, California, Cambodia, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile Central, Chile North, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colorado, Comoros, Corse, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, DR Congo, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Florida, France, Free State, Georgia, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Gulf States, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kentucky, Kenya, Korea, Kriti, Krym, KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Lebanon–Syria, Lesotho, Lesser Sunda Is., Libya, Louisiana, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Maryland, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, Nevada, New Caledonia, New Mexico, New South Wales, New York, Niger, Nigeria, North Carolina, North Caucasus, Northern Territory, NW. Balkan Pen., Ohio, Oklahoma, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rodrigues, Réunion, Samoa, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sicilia, Sinai, Society Is., Socotra, Somalia, South Australia, South Carolina, South Dakota, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan–South Sudan, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Tibet, Tonga, Transcaucasus, Trinidad–Tobago, Tubuai Is., Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Uganda, Utah, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Victoria, Vietnam, Virginia, West Himalaya, Western Australia, Windward Is., Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. (KEW)

• Introduced into: Austria, Belgium, Czechia-Slovakia, Germany, Netherlands. (KEW)