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Lady Fern
Athyrium filix-femina
• Family: Dryopteridaceae
• Habitat: moist, partly shaded areas, usually in slightly acidic soil
• Height: 2 to 3 feet
• Location of spores: underside of frond
• Stipe (leaf stalk): green or reddish above, dark at the base; flat or grooved in front, usually with tan or brown scales
• Growth pattern: asymmetric clump
• Persistence: deciduous
Underside of lady fern leaflets, showing the sori (spore-bearing structures).
Lady fern sori are shaped like eyebrows.