Lophosoria quadripinnata(J.F.Gmel.) C.Chr.

helecho marco (Delyns Santos Trinidad)diamondleaf fern

WFO wfo-0001108908 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Lophosoria quadripinnata, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. a Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-03-21 / obs. 190479164
Lophosoria quadripinnata, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. b Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 191108469
Lophosoria quadripinnata, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. c Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 191108509
Lophosoria quadripinnata, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. d Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 185844236
Lophosoria quadripinnata, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. e Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 185074972
Lophosoria quadripinnata, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. f Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 185074958
Lophosoria quadripinnata, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. g Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 188360632
Lophosoria quadripinnata, photographed by Cesar Ormazabal
fig. h Cesar Ormazabal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195131431

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.

Native range 26 botanical countries

Regions where Lophosoria quadripinnata is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina South, Bolivia, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Chile Central, Chile South, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Juan Fernández Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Venezuela Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina SouthBoliviaBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastChile CentralChile SouthColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáPeruVenezuela
Native distribution of Lophosoria quadripinnata, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina South AGS SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bolivia BOL
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Chile Central CLC
Chile South CLS
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Juan Fernández Is. JNF
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Not drawn on the map: Juan Fernández Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is 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 790 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -0.3 °C 4.5 °C 11.9 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 15.9 °C 19.1 °C 24.5 °C
Annual rainfall 1,282 mm 2,641 mm 4,558 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 86 mm 283 mm 799 mm

It is found where winters bring light frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 790 research-grade observations of Lophosoria quadripinnata 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 51 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.

  • Alsophila affinis Fée
  • Alsophila bilineata Sodiro
  • Alsophila christii Sodiro
  • Alsophila contracta Hieron.
  • Alsophila deckeriana Kl.; Kze.
  • Alsophila glauca (Sw.) Urb.
  • Alsophila millefolium Desv.
  • Alsophila monticola Mart.
  • Alsophila pruinata Kaulf.
  • Alsophila pruinata var. concolor Baker
  • Alsophila pruinata var. conspicua Sodiro
  • Alsophila pruinata var. tenuis Christ
  • Alsophila quadripinnata (J.F.Gmel.) C.Chr.
  • Alsophila revoluta C.Chr.
  • Alsophila schaffneriana Fée
  • Cyathea bilineata Domin
  • Cyathea christii (Sodiro) Domin
  • Cyathea decora Domin
  • Cyathea discolor Bory
  • Cyathea monticola C.Presl
  • Cyathea quadripinnata (J.F.Geml.) Domin
  • Cyathea quadripinnata (J.F.Gmel.) Domin
  • Cyathea revoluta Domin
  • Cyathea schaffneriana Domin

and 27 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. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. 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.