Rumohra adiantiformis(G.Forst.) Ching

iron fern

WFO wfo-0001107747 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Rumohra adiantiformis, photographed by Nico Fernandez-Sauleda
fig. a Nico Fernandez-Sauleda, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-02 / obs. 196057746
Rumohra adiantiformis, photographed by Di Turner
fig. b Di Turner, CC0 1.0 / obs. 195014672
Rumohra adiantiformis, photographed by Di Turner
fig. c Di Turner, CC0 1.0 / obs. 195015739
Rumohra adiantiformis, photographed by Joe Dillon
fig. d Joe Dillon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 184750391
Rumohra adiantiformis, photographed by Joe Dillon
fig. e Joe Dillon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 184750298
Rumohra adiantiformis, photographed by JG
fig. f JG, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203311008
Rumohra adiantiformis, photographed by JG
fig. g JG, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 188104059
Rumohra adiantiformis, photographed by John Barkla
fig. h John Barkla, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176703195

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 42 botanical countries

Regions where Rumohra adiantiformis is native: Cape Provinces, Comoros, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Mauritius, Northern Provinces, Réunion, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Falkland Is., Tristan da Cunha, New Guinea, Chatham Is., New South Wales, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Florida, Argentina Northeast, Argentina South, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Central American Pacific Is., Chile Central, Chile South, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Galápagos, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela Cape ProvincesKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarNorthern ProvincesZimbabweFalkland Is.New GuineaNew South WalesNew Zealand NorthNew Zealand SouthQueenslandTasmaniaVictoriaFloridaArgentina NortheastArgentina SouthBoliviaBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralCentral American Pacific Is.Chile CentralChile SouthColombiaCubaDominican RepublicGuyanaHaitiJamaicaPeruPuerto RicoUruguayVenezuela ComorosMauritiusRéunionSeychellesTristan da CunhaChatham Is.BermudaGalápagos
Native distribution of Rumohra adiantiformis, 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
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina South AGS
Bermuda BER
Bolivia BOL
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Central American Pacific Is. CPI
Chile Central CLC
Chile South CLS
Colombia CLM
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Galápagos GAL
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Jamaica JAM
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Cape Provinces CPP AFRICA
Comoros COM
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Mauritius MAU
Northern Provinces TVL
Réunion REU
Seychelles SEY
Zimbabwe ZIM
Chatham Is. CTM AUSTRALASIA
New South Wales NSW
New Zealand North NZN
New Zealand South NZS
Queensland QLD
Tasmania TAS
Victoria VIC
Falkland Is. FAL ANTARCTICA
Tristan da Cunha TDC
New Guinea NWG ASIA-TROPICAL
Florida FLA NORTHERN AMERICA

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.

Also published as 44 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 adiantiforme Cheeseman
  • Aspidium calyptratum Desv.
  • Aspidium capense Willd.
  • Aspidium clypeolarium Desv.
  • Aspidium coriaceum (Sw.) Sw.
  • Aspidium cumingianum (C.Presl) J.W.Sturm
  • Aspidium cunninghamianum Colenso
  • Aspidium cunninghamii Colenso
  • Aspidium discolor Langsd. & Fisch.
  • Aspidium duriusculum (C.Presl) J.W.Sturm
  • Aspidium ferrugineum Sw.
  • Aspidium orientale Desv.
  • Aspidium politum Desv.
  • Aspidium remotum A.Braun
  • Dryopteris adiantiformis (G.Forst.) Kuntze
  • Dryopteris capensis Kuntze
  • Dryopteris discophora Rosenst.
  • Dryopteris thomassetii (Wright) C.Chr.
  • Hypopeltis coriacea Bory
  • Lastrea adiantiformis (G.Forst.) Vareschi
  • Lastrea aspidioides (Raddi) C.Presl
  • Nephrodium duriusculum C.Presl
  • Polypodium adianthoides Burm.f.
  • Polypodium adiantiforme G.Forst.

and 20 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.