Plant Indices
- Alphabetical Index (Genera)
- Alphabetical Index (Vernacular)
- Cladistic Index
LADYFERN (Athyrium)
Family: Athyriaceae
Species: Athyrium filix-femina
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Athyrium filix-femina, Jesmond Dene, Newcastle, Northumberland, UK; 11 May 2006 |
Asia, East
- Japanese: Narabu
Asia, West
- Turkish: Harpu Fern, Nur
Europe, Central
- German: Frauenfarn
- Hungarian: Majomkosbor
- Polish: Paproć Samica, Samica
Europe, Northern
- Danish: Frueburkne, Skovbregne
- Finnish: Hiirenporras, Soreivarre
- Norwegian: Skogburkne
- Swedish: Berglarsläktet, Markbräken, Mjukbräken, Ormbunke
Europe, Southern
- Ancient Greek: Dryopteris, Scolopendrium
Europe, Western
- Dutch: Gewone Wijfjesvaren, Suikervarens, Wijfjesvaren
- English: Ladyfern, Common Lady Fern, Without-Shield
- French: Dryoptéride Fougère-Femelle
- Irish: Sloat
- Welsh: Rhedyn Benywaidd
Cosmopolitan
Native to:
- Africa, Central: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Uganda
- Africa, Eastern: Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Réunion, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Africa, Northern: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
- Africa, Southern: Lesotho, South Africa (Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Provinces)
- Africa, Western: Guinea, Nigeria
- America, North: Belize, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Labrador, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon), Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, United States (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming)
- America, South: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
- Asia, Central: Mongolia, Russia (Altay, Tuva), Xinjiang
- Asia, East: China (Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai), Japan (Kazan-retto, Ogasawara-shoto), Korea, Russia (Amur, Buryatiya, Chita, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Islands, Magadan, Primorye, Sakhalin, Yakutiya), Taiwan
- Asia, South: Afghanistan, Bangladesh (Assam), India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
- Asia, Southeast: Borneo, Cambodia, Indonesia (Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku, Sulawesi, Sumatra), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam
- Asia, Western: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
- Europe, Central: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland
- Europe, Eastern: Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Ukraine
- Europe, Northern: Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden
- Europe, Southern: Corsica, Greece (Crete), Italy (Sardinia, Sicily), Portugal (Azores, Madeira), Spain (Baleares, Canary Islands)
- Europe, Western: Belgium, England, France, Ireland, Scotland
- Oceania: Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Society Islands, Tristan da Cunha, Tubuai Islands
- Africa, Northern: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
- Asia, Central: Kazakhstan
- Asia, East: China (China North-Central), Japan, Korea, Mongolia
- Asia, Northern: Russia (Altay, Buryatiya, Central European Russia, Chita, East European Russia, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Krym, Kuril Is., Magadan, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Primorye, Sakhalin, West Siberia, Yakutskiya)
- Asia, West: Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
- Europe, Central: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland
- Europe, Eastern: Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine
- Europe, Northern: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden
- Europe, Southern: Albania, Croatia, Greece (including Crete), Italy (including Sardinia, Sicily), North Macedonia, Portugal (including Azores, Madeira), Serbia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands)
- Europe, Western: Belgium, England, France (including Corsica), Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland
Biome: Temperate, damp woodland.
Large, feathery ferns that are common in damp, shady woodland environments. It is named "ladyfern" because its reproductive structures are concealed (implying a ladylike modesty), in addition to its other elegant qualities and appearance.
The ladyfern's fronds rise from a central point as a clump. The fronds are deciduous and a light yellow-green, roughly 20-90cm (7.9-35.4in) and 5-25cm (2.0-9.8in) broad.
Ladyferns are hardy, able to tolerate temperatures as low as -20°C.
According to Skinner, the Syrians engage in a wedding tradition involving henna and ladyfern. Before the ceremony, the fern leaf is printed on the bride's hand. The leaf is applied to the back of the hand, washing the skin in the henna dye and staining the hand with the leaf print. This is where it gets the name "bride's gloves." Skinner indicates that its purpose was apotropaic.
The young fiddleheads and rhizomes are both edible.
- There is an obvious interplay of the "lady" fern with the "male" fern [Dryopteris]. You could use them in spellcraft as counters to each other or in the sexually creative sense.
- The name "bride's gloves" suggests the ideal of bridal maidenhood. Dovetailing with the name "without-shield" (which denotes vulnerability), this wraps up the class implication of "lady" with feminine fidelity and vulnerability. This could be cast negatively to reclassify these qualities as weaknesses or to magnify the qualities as virtues. Consider what materials you might pair with the ladyfern to achieve particular messaging.
- If one can attain an apotropaic effect from stenciling the back of the hand with a lady fern and applying henna, why can't the same be done with other plants to a novel effect?
- The hardiness of the plant can easily translate as emblematic of feminine resilience.
- The name "without shield" could signify vulnerability in a flower arrangement. This could be "I come to you sincerely, without defensiveness," or "you are more vulnerable than you realize."
- Used magically, it could be employed in a spell to circumvent or negate the target's existing magical protections, or to empower one with a boon that negates the need for a shield in combat.
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Alpine Ladyfern (Athyrium distentifolium)
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Athyrium distentifolium ssp. americanum growing near Chinook Pass, Washington State. Own Work -- Jhorthos. |
Europe, Central
- Czech: Papratka Horská, Papratka Okrouhloštítá
- German: Alpiner Frauenfarn, Fross-Fern
- Slovak: Horská Papradka
Europe, Eastern
- Estonian: Kaljukivi-Sõnajalg
- Lithuanian: Alpininiu Širdlapiu
- Slovenian: Alpski Gozdni Šaš
Europe, Northern
- Danish: Fjällbræken
- Finnish: Tunturi-Hiirenporras, Tunturihiirenporras
- Norwegian: Bergburkne, Fjell-Lodnebregne
- Swedish: Berglarsläktet, Fjällbräken
Europe, Western
- English: Alpine Ladyfern, Tundra Ladyfern, Upland Ladyfern
Distribution: Cosmopolitan Northern Hemisphere.
- Asia, East: Japan, Korea
- Asia, Northern: Russia (Altay, Buryatiya, East European Russia, Irkutsk, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Tuva, West Siberia, Yakutskiya)
- Asia, West: Turkey
- Europe, Central: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland
- Europe, Eastern: Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine
- Europe, Northern: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
- Europe, Southern: Croatia, Italy, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain
- Europe, Western: England, France (including Corsica), Scotland
Biome: Highland scree.
A common fern is found across the northern hemisphere, especially in the Highlands of Scotland (above 600m), notably on scree slopes.
Athyrium flexile, considered by many to be a synonym for distentifolium, is a small, deciduous fern found above 750m (2,460ft) on quartzite and granite screes in the Highlands, occasionally found as high as 900m. It is found only at four sites. It is snow-tolerant, with the snow lie protecting it from fronts. Typically found in cool, shaded, north-facing scree-slopes. Otherwise, it grows near acidic rocks, especially in places where the snow lies late into spring and melts slowly.
- Retained for name and distribution.
- The screes where flexile grows could be sacred to druids or similar nature-worshipers/-magi.
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Asian Common Ladyfern (Athyrium yokoscense)
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| Athyrium yokoscense, Oleg Kosterin. |
Asia, East
- Japanese: Hebi No Negoza, Hebinone-Goza, Nioi Shida, Yokosuka-Shida
Europe, Western
- English: Asian Common Ladyfern, Japanese Climbing Fern, Japanese Ladder Fern, Ladder Fern, Yokosuka Fern, Yokosuka Ladyfern
- Asia, East: China (China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Manchuria), Japan, Korea
- Asia, Northern: Russia (Kuril Is., Primorye)
This plant grows no more than 20cm (7.9in) high. They prefer shady spots with moist soils heavy with clay but will grow in plains with sufficient metal content.
A hardy fern that thrives around mines and soils contaminated with heavy metals, including zinc, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and copper, often well past thresholds that would kill other plants. It even grows on slag heaps.
This fern's attraction to toxic metals has been recognized for centuries and was sought out when prospecting for these metals.
This plant has no known medicinal properties, but it's definitely loaded with toxic metals.
- Thrives in heavy-metal contaminated soils. Perhaps it's an indicator of corrupting magic? This would play well with female ferns' associations with sorcery and mischief.
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Japanese Ladyfern (Athyrium niponicum)
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| Athyrium niponicum, Basel, Switzerland. Manu Schwendener. |
Asia, East
- Chinese: Ri Ben Jian Zhu
- Japanese: Inumori Shida, Urohagoshida
Europe, Western
- English: Japanese Ladyfern, Crested Japanese Painted Fern, Ghost Fern, Glow-In-The-Dark Fern, Japanese Painted Fern, Japanese Silver Fern, Nippon Ladyfern, Painted Ladyfern, Silver Fern, Silvery Painted Fern
Distribution: East Asia
- Asia, East: China (China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Inner Mongolia), Japan, Korea
- Asia, South: India (Assam)
- Asia, Southeast: Myanmar, Vietnam
- Asia, East: Taiwan
A deciduous fern with fronds of variable length, generally between 30-75cm but sometimes over 1m.
- Retained primarily for name and distribution.
- Metal Associations: [Silver]
- Spirit Associations: [Ghost]
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Prestigious Plants
- Plants
- Flowers
- Trees
- Ferns
- Moss and Lichen [Pending]
- Fungi [Pending]
- Cladistic Index
- Herbal Medicine [Pending]
- Resin, Incense, Balsam, and Lacquer [Pending]
Other Ferns
[Img 01 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Athyrium_filix-femina0.jpg]
[Img 03 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium_yokoscense#/media/File:Athyrium_yokoscense_101476025.jpg]
[Img 04 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium_niponicum#/media/File:Athyrium_niponicum_(Unsplash).jpg]
-Skinner, Charles M. "Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, and Plants : In All Ages and in All Climes : Skinner, Charles M. (Charles Montgomery), 1852-1907 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive, Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott Co., 1 Jan. 1970, https://archive.org/details/mythslegendsoffl00skin.
(https://powo.science.kew.org/)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyriaceae)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium_distentifolium)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium_filix-femina)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium_flexile)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium_niponicum)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium_yokoscense)
Name assistance provided by Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
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