Athyrium filix-femina (L.) Roth
Lady fern, common ladyfern
These ferns are native to temperate regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. The term “lady fern" derives from the sori, demurely covered by a transparent tissue, the indusium, in a “feminine” manner.
Identification: These ferns are deciduous perennials, 1–3 ⨉ 1–2½′ (30–91 ⨉ 30–76 cm). Stalks are green to purple or red, with a scattering of brown scales near the base. Fronds are tripinnate, up to 3 ⨉ 1′ (91 ⨉ 30 cm), light green, and somewhat featherlike in appearance. Pinnules are lanceolate. Sori (reproductive spore packets) are oval-shaped dots on fertile leaf undersides, 1-6 per pinnule.
Habitats: Rich, moist, shady woodland environments, thickets and fields. These ferns are cold-hardy down to –20° C (–4° F).
Online References:
7/24/2023 · Tarbox Preserve, Topsham, Maine 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 7 × 10″ (17 × 25 cm) 
6/17/2012 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 16 × 12″ (40 × 29 cm) 
8/13/2025 · Big Falls Preserve, New Gloucester, Maine · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 15 cm) 
8/13/2025 · Big Falls Preserve, New Gloucester, Maine · ≈ 10 × 7″ (25 × 17 cm) 
Crested form. · 5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 10 × 9″ (24 × 23 cm) 
8/16/2020 · Long Reach Preserve, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 6 × 10″ (16 × 24 cm) 
Crested form. · 5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 14 × 10″ (35 × 25 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Pteridophyta | Ferns |
| Class | Filicopsida | “Leptosporangiate” (has to do with how their spores form) ferns—includes most ferns |
| Order | Polypodiales | Polypod ferns |
| Family | Dryopteridaceae | Wood ferns (about 70% of the ferns) |
| Genus | Athyrium | From Greek a, “without,” and thurium, “shield,” (or thura, “door”), from the shape of the sori |
| Species | filix-femina | From the Latin filix, “a fern,” and femina, “feminine,” this taxa is called lady fern from the sporangia which are enclosed or hidden in a manner which is deemed to be feminine |
Athyrium filix-femina description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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