Adiantum

Adiantum, the genus of ferns known as Maidenhair, including upwards of sixty species, natives of hot and temperate climates. They have slender hair-like leaf-stalks, often black; leaflets, generally trapezoid, pinnate, or pedate; veins, forked or netted; and fructification, oblong or rounded, and covered by the reflexed margin of the frond. They are closely related to the Bracken (Pteris). A syrup is prepared from them, known as Capillaire.