Christella dentata(Forssk.) Brownsey & Jermy

downy maiden fern

WFO wfo-0001107250 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Christella dentata, photographed by Steve Fitzgerald
fig. a Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-06-04 / obs. 203115210

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
04991751
Filed as
Christella dentata (Forssk.) Brownsey & Jermy
Det. by
T. Ranker 2018-01-01
Collected
G. M. Plunkett 2016-12-07
Origin
VU
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 104 botanical countries

Regions where Christella dentata is native: Angola, Ascension, Azores, Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Réunion, Rodrigues, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tibet, Yemen, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, East Himalaya, India, Laccadive Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Kermadec Is., New South Wales, New Zealand North, Norfolk Is., Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Kriti, Sicilia, Spain, Caroline Is., Cook Is., Fiji, Marianas, Marquesas, Santa Cruz Is., Society Is., Tokelau-Manihiki, Tonga, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Vanuatu AngolaBeninBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicDR CongoEquatorial GuineaEswatiniEthiopiaGabonGhanaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweAfghanistanChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanIranIraqJapanSaudi ArabiaTaiwanTibetYemenAssamBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoEast HimalayaIndiaLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNew South WalesNew Zealand NorthNorthern TerritoryQueenslandSouth AustraliaVictoriaWestern AustraliaKritiSiciliaSpainFiji AscensionAzoresCanary Is.Cape VerdeComorosMadeiraMauritiusRéunionRodriguesSeychellesKoreaNansei-shotoAndaman Is.Laccadive Is.Kermadec Is.Norfolk Is.Caroline Is.Cook Is.MarianasMarquesasSociety Is.Tokelau-ManihikiTongaTuamotuTubuai Is.Vanuatu
Native distribution of Christella dentata, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Ascension ASC
Azores AZO
Benin BEN
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Provinces CPP
Cape Verde CVI
Central African Republic CAF
Comoros COM
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Madeira MDR
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Réunion REU
Rodrigues ROD
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Seychelles SEY
Sierra Leone SIE
Socotra SOC
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Laccadive Is. LDV
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Japan JAP
Korea KOR
Nansei-shoto NNS
Saudi Arabia SAU
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Yemen YEM
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Cook Is. COO
Fiji FIJ
Marianas MRN
Marquesas MRQ
Santa Cruz Is. SCZ
Society Is. SCI
Tokelau-Manihiki TOK
Tonga TON
Tuamotu TUA
Tubuai Is. TUB
Vanuatu VAN
Kermadec Is. KER AUSTRALASIA
New South Wales NSW
New Zealand North NZN
Norfolk Is. NFK
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
South Australia SOA
Victoria VIC
Western Australia WAU
Kriti KRI EUROPE
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA

Not drawn on the map: Socotra, Santa Cruz Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,962 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 5.9 °C 11.2 °C 21.4 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 22.4 °C 30.2 °C 32.1 °C
Annual rainfall 916 mm 1,372 mm 3,184 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 57 mm 186 mm 399 mm

It is barely found anywhere that freezes. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,962 research-grade observations of Christella dentata that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 88 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aspidium aquapimense Schumach.
  • Aspidium hilsenbergii Sieb.
  • Aspidium molle Sw.
  • Aspidium molle var. anoticum Kunze
  • Aspidium molle var. decurtatum F.M.Bailey
  • Aspidium molle var. glabrindusiatum Hieron.
  • Aspidium molle var. violascens (Link) Mett.
  • Aspidium natalense Fée
  • Aspidium nymphale (G.Forst.) Schkuhr
  • Aspidium violascens Link
  • Christella dentata (Forssk.) Holttum
  • Christella dentata var. caespitosa Holttum
  • Christella dentata var. himalayensis Punetha & Kholia
  • Christella hilsenbergii (C.Presl) Holttum
  • Christella kendujharensis S.K.Behera & S.K.Barik
  • Christella malabariensis (Fée) Holttum
  • Christella nymphalis (G.Forst.) Pic.Serm.
  • Christella taprobanica (Panigrahi) Holttum
  • Cyclosorus angustus Ching
  • Cyclosorus caespitosus (Holttum) Mazumdar & R.Mukhop.
  • Cyclosorus dentatus (Forssk.) Ching
  • Cyclosorus dentatus f. bipinnata Ching
  • Cyclosorus dentatus var. himalayensis (Punetha & Kholia) Mazumdar & R.Mukhop.
  • Cyclosorus dentatus var. violascens (Link) Abbiatti

and 64 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol THDE4. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.