A.pedatum grows 30–75cm (12–30in) tall, and is deciduous. Characteristics typical of A. pedatum include clusters of spores that are on the underside of the leaf margin curved lobes[4]. Issues with classification of subspecies are prominent in A. pedatum due to the variation of characteristics and genetic diversity.
Distribution and Habitat
Adiantum pedatum is characterized by disjunct distribution[5]. There is a presence in Eastern Asia and North America, both of which are thought to have evolved distinctive distributions due to climatic and geological occurrence.
Etymology
There is a struggle to come to an agreement with the classification of subspecies part of the A.pedatum complex[6]. The four subspecies include pedatum, caldera, aleuticum and subpumilum. Evolutional changes including the duplication of gene loci, the occurrence of multivalent in meiotic sporocytes, and a limited geographic distribution all contribute toward the idea of recent origin of the tetraploid in A. pedatum[7].
Similar Species
A. pedatum resembles species such as A. myriosorum[8].
Life History
Limitations in A. pedatum include spore production, retention and release. There are continuing life history traits that affect reproduction including gametophyte establishment, persistence, sexual status, selecting for self-fertilization or outcrossing, and new sporophyte establishment and persistence[9].
Ecology
The distribution of A. pedatum is affected by biotic and abiotic ecological factors[10].
Research Focus
Research on A. pedatum focuses on the potential as anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory agents[11]. The potential neuropharmacological impacts of A. pedatum are also being studied.
Taxonomy
Adiantum pedatum was described by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753 (the official starting point of modern botanical nomenclature). He referred to earlier descriptions, all based on material from eastern North America.[12] Linnaeus' own herbarium contains one specimen, collected by Pehr Kalm.
Specimens collected in Unalaska and Kodiak Island by Chamisso and Langsdorf were referred to as Adiantum boreale by Presl in 1836, although he did not provide a species description to accompany the name. Ruprecht, in 1845, called the Alaskan material A.pedatum var.aleuticum, and created var.kamtschaticum for material collected in Kamchatka by Carl Merck and Pallas. In 1857, E. J. Lowe noted that Wallich and Cantor had collected the species in northern India, and that material from the western United States ranged as far south as California. It was one of the many species cited by Asa Gray as disjunct between Japan and both the eastern and western United States. By 1874, Hooker & Baker reported it as present in both Japan and Manchuria.
It grows in a variety of habitats, but generally favors soils that are both humus-rich, moist, and well-drained. It grows both in soils and on rock faces and ledges when adequate moisture is present.
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