Southern Lady Fern
Athyrium asplenioides
Click or tap the section titles below to learn more about this species!
CLASSIFICATION: What’s in a name?
Scientific Name: Athyrium asplenioides. The genus Athyrium is derived from Greek and means “doorless”, describing the protective covering of the spores being slow to open up.8 The epithet, asplenioides means “like Asplenium” referring to a supposed similarity to another genus of ferns.
Common Name: Southern Lady Fern. The common name refers to the more southerly distribution of the species when compared to its close relative, Northern Lady Fern (A. angustum).
Family: Athyriaceae (Lady Fern family). This is a large and widely distributed family of ferns, distinguished by having sori which are elongated instead of round.4
IDENTIFICATION: What does it look like?
Average Height: 1-2 feet
Description: A medium-sized fern with bright green, deciduous fronds which are divided multiple times. The stalks are often red when the fronds are young. In summer, elongate clusters of spores called sori can be found on the undersides of the fronds. Plants spread slowly by horizontal roots to form small colonies.
Bloom time: Ferns are some of the most primitive plants, evolving before flowers. They do not bloom, but instead produce massive quantities of spores, single cells which have the ability to grow into new plants under favorable, cool, damp conditions. In Virginia, southern lady fern produces its spores from May to September.1
Notes: This species is very similar to the northern lady fern (Athyrium angustum), but northern lady fern has fronds which are widest at the middle, whereas southern lady fern fronds are widest below the middle.9 Northern lady fern is very rare in Virginia, only occurring in two northern counties (Fauquier and Warren).7 New York fern (Amauropelta noveboracensis) is also similar but has fronds widest at the middle, tapering more or less evenly to each end. It also lacks the red color that lady fern stems have when young.
LOCATION: Where is it at home?
Range: This is one of the most common and widespread ferns in Virginia, and it has been documented in every county in the state! It has a large range in the eastern United States, from Florida to Texas, and north to eastern Kansas and Massachusetts. Further north, it is replaced by the similar northern lady fern (Athyrium angustum).2
Geology/Soil: Found in a variety of loamy forest soils, from fairly dry uplands to mucky swamp soils.
Habitat: Floodplain forests, rich slopes, seepage swamps, stream banks, moist sunny clearings and edges.6,7
CONNECTIONS: What are its relationships to other plants, animals, and humans?
Flora associations: Found with a huge variety of plant species, including many other ferns. At the Meadow Creek South trail, associated species include New York fern (Amauropelta noveboracensis), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), marginal wood fern (Dryopteris marginalis), spicebush (Lindera benzoin), northern red oak (Quercus rubra), fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus), red maple (Acer rubrum), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), and tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera).
Fauna associations: This fern’s relationships with animal species are not well known. It is a host plant for a moth, Stathmopoda aenea, as well as a food source for a species of aphid, Macrosiphum lambi.5 Maybe you will document more species of animal interacting with this plant!
Human associations: Over the years, humans have found a number of uses for both this species and other similar members of the genus Athyrium. These range from being used to cover food in steaming pits and berry baskets (Nitinaht, Shuswap, Cowlitz), for sores (Ojibwa), and to relieve pain (Cowlitz, Meskwaki).3
We want these plants to thrive and for everyone who gets to visit the park to enjoy them, so remember – don’t pick flowers or other parts of the plant!!
Bibliography & Definitions
1 Weakley, A.S., J.C. Ludwig, and J.F. Townsend. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Bland Crowder, ed. Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project, Inc., Richmond. Fort Worth: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press, , pp. 1155-1157.
2 “2013 BONAP North American Plant Atlas. TaxonMaps.” Bonap.net, bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Athyrium. Accessed 21 May 2024.
3 “BRIT – Native American Ethnobotany Database.” Naeb.brit.org, naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=athyrium. Accessed 21 May 2024.
4 “Flora of New Zealand | Taxon Profile | Athyriaceae.” Nzflora.info, 2018, www.nzflora.info/factsheet/taxon/Athyriaceae.html#:~:text=The%20family%20Athyriaceae%20comprises%20terrestrial. Accessed 21 May 2024.
5 Hilty, John. “Lady Fern (Athyrium Filix-Femina).” Www.illinoiswildflowers.info, www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/lady_fern.htm#:~:text=In%20southern%20Illinois%2C%20Athyrium%20filix. Accessed 21 May 2024.
6 LeGrand, Harry, et al. “Vascular Plants of North Carolina.” Ncparks.gov, 2019, auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/plant_list.php.
7 Virginia Botanical Associates. “Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora | Search Results for Athyrium.” Vaplantatlas.org, 2024, www.vaplantatlas.org/index.php?s=athyrium&c=&do=search%3Aadvanced&search=Search. Accessed 21 May 2024.
8 Wagner-Reiss, Katherine . “Plant Names Tell Their Stories: Athyrium Niponicum Var. Pictum (Japanese Painted Fern).” Morris Arboretum & Gardens, 24 Aug. 2021, www.morrisarboretum.org/blog/plant-names-tell-their-stories-athyrium-niponicum-var-pictum-japanese-painted-fern#:~:text=The%20genus%20name%20Athyrium%20derives. Accessed 21 May 2024.
9 Weakley, Alan, and Southeastern Flora Team. “Flora of the Southeastern US.” Fsus.ncbg.unc.edu, 2024, fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/main.php?pg=index.php. Accessed 21 May 2024.
Definitions:
Deciduous: Withering and dropping from the plant, typically used to refer to leaves which fall late in the year.
Sori: Plural of sorus, the structures which contain spores on ferns, usually found on the undersides of the fronds.
Spore: A single-celled reproductive organ, produced by non-flowering plants, such as ferns, horsetails, clubmosses, and mosses.