My favorite fern that is found all over the Pacific Northwest. I’ve known it as the five fingered fern, but now I am more educated. It’s delicate and nimble-looking, and definitely stands out from the huge majority of other, more hardy ferns found in the forest.

Adiantum (pronounced /ˌædiˈæntəm/),the maidenhair ferns, is a genus of about 200 species of ferns in the family Pteridaceae, though some researchers place it in its own family, Adiantaceae. The genus name comes from Greek, meaning “not wetting”, referring to the fronds’ ability to shed water without becoming wet.