Athyrium asplenioides (Michx.) Eaton

Southern Lady Fern; Lowland Lady Fern

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Southern Lady Fern is a native herbaceous perennial in the Lady Fern family (Athyriaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Southern Lady Fern occurs along streams and creeks, in swamps, around ponds and lakes, and in bottomland hardwood forests. It is a perennial with a short creeping rhizome. The fronds (leaves) are erect, deciduous, ovate to lanceolate in outline, 2-pinnate to 3-pinnatifid, and glabrous. The pinnae (small segments of the frond) are lanceolate with serrate margins. The fronds are usually clustered at the apex of the rhizome. The petioles are green or reddish in color, with pale tan scales near their base. Southern Lady Fern reproduces by forming spores in structures known as sporangia. The sporangia are arranged in clusters called sori. The sori are elongate and occur on the lower surface of the fronds. The sori are covered with a flap of tissue known as the indusium. This species is sometimes listed as a variety or subspecies of the Common Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina var. asplenioides (Michaux) Farwell). Southern Lady Fern is available from nurseries. It prefers a rich, moist soil in full to partial shade. It is an easy to grow hardy fern that can be used in a shaded garden, around the foundation of a wall in a shady location, or around a water feature. It can also be used in shaded areas along streams or ponds.—A. Diamond

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Native

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