Dig into Plants: Lady Fern

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Lady Fern

Other Common Names: Common Lady Fern, Subarctic Lady Fern, Ladyfern

Scientific Name: Athyrium filix-femina

Native to Alabama: Yes

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – R. W. Smith

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Basic Plant Information

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – R. W. Smith

I am a non-woody vascular plant, so I am a fern.
I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous.
I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial.
I can grow 1 – 3 feet high and 1 – 2.5 feet wide.

Ecological Benefits

White-tailed deer browse leaves during summer; can provide significant cover for wildlife; value of this fern to wildlife appears to be low overall

Maintenance Notes

Dormant in winter.
Fronds can be cut and used in floral arrangements.
When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds. Water should reach all roots.
Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves.
Requires moist to wet soil at all times.

Moist to wet soil at all times: water three times per week.

Habitat Requirements

This plant prefers:

Part Sun/ Shade
(2-6 hours of sun per day)

Shade
(less than 2 hours of sun
per day)

Prefers moist to wet soil at all times

Well-drained, Sandy, Clay,
or Moist Soil

Leaf, Flower & Seed Identification

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Brenda K. Loveless

LEAF DESCRIPTION

Fronds (leaves) are light green, appear lacy, finely divided; each frond has 20-30 pairs of leaflets with narrow pointed tips and leaflets are divided either further into deeply cut, lanceolate to oblong sub leaflets; grow in circular clumps.

Leaf Characteristics Chart (PDF)


Shape: Lanceolate	Margin: Lobate

Arrangement: Whorled	Form: Double Compound

FLOWER DESCRIPTION

Lady Fern is not a flowering plant

Wikimedia – Muriel Bendel

SEED DESCRIPTION

Plant spreads by:
Rhizomes/Tubers/Roots & Shoots and spores
Underground rhizomes spread and create new clumps of plants – can spread aggressively


Type: Spore-bearing cones	Description: no fruit or seeds, reproduces by spores; spores are found in sori on the bottom of the sub leaflets	Months in Seed: Spores are released summer-fall

Plant Life Cycle

Plant Life Cycle:

Horsetail plants reproduce by spores rather than seeds.
Spores are contained in cone-like spore cases at the ends of the stems.
The spores are dispersed by the wind.
When the spores land on a damp surface, they grow into small male and female structures.
Finally, when fertilization takes place, the plant will grow to form the visible stems used to identify the horsetail plant.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

Quick Fact Sheet
(Condensed Species Info)

Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Ready as-is PDF

Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Ready as-is PDF

QR Code
(Links to this Webpage)

Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Editable Word Doc

Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Editable Word Doc

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