Alpine lady-fern facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alpine lady-fern
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Suborder:	Aspleniineae
Family:	Athyriaceae
Genus:	Athyrium
Species:	A. distentifolium
Binomial name
Athyrium distentifolium Tausch ex Opiz
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The Alpine lady-fern (scientific name: Athyrium distentifolium) is a type of fern. You can find it in many places across the Northern Hemisphere. This means it grows in the northern parts of the world.

Where Does the Alpine Lady-Fern Grow?

The Alpine lady-fern is common in high-up areas. In the Scottish Highlands, you can find it above 600 meters (about 2,000 feet). A lot of these ferns, more than 10% of all in the United Kingdom, live in the Cairngorm mountains. They especially like rocky, sloped areas called scree slopes. You can see them in places like Glen Feshie, Ben Avon, Ben MacDui, and Beinn a' Bhùird.

This fern is considered "nationally scarce." This means it's not super common across the whole country. It's also good at surviving in snowy conditions.

Special Types of Alpine Lady-Fern

There's a special, smaller version of this fern. It's called var. flexile. This type is found at 750 meters (about 2,460 feet) and higher. It only grows in four specific spots. This means it is "endemic" to Scotland, which means it's found only there.

Another type, called americanum, grows in the western United States, Alaska, Canada, and along the coast of Greenland.