Athyrium is a genus of 180 species of terrestrial ferns, so strictly speaking is not a wildflower because it produces no blooms. It is native to moist woodland and forest in temperate and tropical regions around the world. Growing from a rhizome, the plants may be 6″ to 6′ tall and most have deciduous, feather, finely divided foliage. The fronds (=leaves) may be pinnate, three-pinnate, or pinnatifid and the stips (=stems) are often hairy or scaly at the base and may be grooved or smooth. Instead of producing seeds in fruit like flowering plants, ferns produce spores in sori (singular, sorus). The sori are located on the underside of the fronds, are usually linear or curved and are usually covered by a covering called an indusium, that is often curved or J-shaped.
Athyriums like shade or filtered light and moist, fertile, neutral to acidic soil. Propagation is by spores or division in spring.
The genus name, Athyrium, is from the Greek ἀ- (a-), meaning without, and the Greek word θύριον (thýrion) meaning little door, in references the plant’s indusium. The indusium of most ferns acts like a little door over the spore cases, but in Athyrium it is either absent or not shaped like a door, so the specific epithet is a misnomer.
Photo Credit: NC State Extension
The environmental conditions of the Midwest have resulted in at least three species of lady fern native to the Midwest but they are native to other regions of the US too. The lady ferns described here are native to at least one of the states in the Midwest.
Northern Lady Fern (Athyrium angustum)
The delicate fronds are twice divided and the stipe (stem) may be reddish-brown to purplish with small brown scales but no hairs. The sori are long, narrow, curved or straight, and have an indusium covering yellow spores.
Alternate/s Names: None
Native Range: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota as well as places in the Rocky Mountain area, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and New England
Habitat: Moist, shady woodlands, stream bands, ravines, swampy or wetland margins
Type: Deciduous perennial
Height: 8-30″
Bloom Time: NA
Bloom Color: NA
Light: Partial to full shade (sun if adequate moisture available)
Soil: Humusy, consistently moist, well-drained
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-7
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Southern Lady Fern (Athyrium asplenioides)
Broad, lacy fronds form whorled clumps that are 2-3′ tall and wide. The fronds may have reddish stipes (stems), are two to three pinnate or pinnatifid, light green, with the broadest part just above the base. The sori are either short and straight or long and recurved. An indusium covers spores that are dark brown when mature. An excellent choice for a ground cover for a woodland garden, along a stream bank, or at the edge of a shaded pond.
Alternate/s Names: None
Native Range: Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio as well as places in the Southwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and New England
Habitat: Moist to wet forests, meadows, open thickets, occasionally swamps
Type: Deciduous perennial
Height: 2-3′
Bloom Time: NA
Bloom Color: NA
Light: Dappled shade to part and full shade
Soil: Humusy, consistently moist to wet; tolerates drier soils than other lady ferns
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-9
Photo Credit: NC State Extension
Western Lady Fern (Athyrium cyclosonum)
Considered by some experts to be a variety of east coast lady fern, western lady fern is typically larger and lighter in color. The fronds are 2-3 times pinnately compound and grow in loose vase-like tufts. The sori with their indusia are elongated and curved in a horse-shoe shape.
Alternate/s Names: None
Native Range: South Dakota as well as places in the Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain area, and Southwest.
Habitat: Swamps, streambanks, thickets, and moist woodlands and meadows
Type: Deciduous perennial
Height: 1- 6′
Bloom Time: NA
Bloom Color: NA
Light: Shade
Soil: Average, consistently moist
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-8 (?)
Photo Credit: inaturalist
The Midwest includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The area features lakes, mountains, and vast fertile plains that are the “bread basket” of the nation. The climate of the Midwest has great variations in temperatures with hot humid temperature averaging 85-95 F in summer and winter temperatures often falling below 0 F. Precipitation comes in the form of both rain and snow and varies from 43.6″/year to 18.8″/year.