Adiantum capillus-veneris 'Rock Springs'

Southern Maidenhair Fern Pteridaceae

A particularly robust and handsome form of the southern maidenhair fern, with delicate fan-shaped pinnae carried on slender, polished-black stipes. Unlike many maidenhair ferns, this form has proved remarkably tolerant of the combination of intense summer heat and strongly alkaline, limestone-derived soils in which it was found. Given moisture at the roots, it forms an elegant, spreading clump of fresh green fronds, equally effective in a shaded rock garden, beside water or in a sheltered woodland planting.

Collected as spores in 2000 near Rock Springs, Edwards Plateau, Texas (A2T-034), from a population growing beside a small creek in very alkaline soil. The population was brought to the attention of Juniper Level Botanic Garden by plantsman Scott Ogden, and the resulting plant was subsequently introduced by Plant Delights in 2005 as ‘Rock Springs’.

The species has an extensive natural distribution, occurring through much of the warmer temperate and subtropical world. In Texas it is particularly characteristic of springs, seeps, streams and moist limestone cliffs, making the Rock Springs provenance especially appropriate for gardens where alkaline conditions can otherwise be problematic for maidenhair ferns.

Nomenclature: Adiantum capillus-veneris L. was described by Linnaeus in 1753. The plant was received by us as ‘Texas’, but the documented Rock Springs provenance indicates that ‘Rock Springs’ is the more appropriate name; ‘Texas’ is retained as a received synonym.

• Hardiness: H5, -15 to -10°C
• Height: 30–40 cm
• Spread: 45–60 cm
• Fronds: evergreen to semi-evergreen