Ferns / Fetos

In the Madeira archipelago, there are 41 indigenous ferns and 4 naturalized ones, totaling 45 species: 1 Ciateacea, 3 Himenofilaceas, 40 Polipodiaceas, and 1 Ofioglossacea. Of the 40 Polipodiaceas, 36 are indigenous and 4 are naturalized. The Dicksonia culcita, Herit. (Tree fern) is a beautiful Ciateacea that is only common in Montado dos Pessegueiros; and the Davallia canariensis (cabrinha), the Adiantum reniforme, the Pteris arguta, the Pteridium aquilinum (feiteira), the Woodwardia radicans (button fern), the Athyrium Filix-foemina, the Asplenium Adianthum-nigrum, the Polystichum aculeatum, the Nephrodium Filix-mas, etc., are common Polipodiaceas in Madeira. Complete lists of the ferns of the Madeira archipelago can be found in C. A. Meneses' Flora do Arquipelago da Madeira (Funchal, 1914) and Madeira Ferns, by the same author (Funchal, 1906).