Fern · Pteridaceae
Northern maidenhair
Adiantum pedatum
Northern maidenhair is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,284 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Northern maidenhair at a glance
- Native in
- 1,284 counties, across 34 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1.3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Northern maidenhair is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,284 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,284 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 31 counties
- Arkansas 47 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 35 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 78 counties
- Iowa 62 counties
- Kansas 24 counties
- Kentucky 93 counties
- Louisiana 6 counties
- Maine 13 counties
- Maryland 12 counties
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Minnesota 37 counties
- Mississippi 22 counties
- Missouri 79 counties
- Nebraska 11 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New York 62 counties
- North Carolina 47 counties
- Ohio 83 counties
- Oklahoma 20 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Carolina 9 counties
- South Dakota 1 county
- Tennessee 84 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 86 counties
- West Virginia 47 counties
- Wisconsin 70 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.3 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 36 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.6 to 6.6
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Brown
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Contracting Only
- Family
- Pteridaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ADPE
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Adiantum pedatum (PLANTS symbol ADPE).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources