Adiantum aethiopicum, also known as the common maidenhair fern, is a small fern of widespread distribution, occurring in Africa, Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand. Adiantum aethiopicum was one of the many species first described by Linnaeus, in this case in his Systema naturae in 1759. The specific epithet aethiopicum in this sense was the Latin term for Africa south of the then known world, that is to say, more or less Africa south of Egypt.In South Africa the species occurs widely, though not generally profusely, mainly on moist sandstone cliffs in full shade. In the Cape Peninsula it is uncommon and grows mainly at the highest locally available altitudes, generally about 600–1,085 m (2,000–3,600 ft).