This maidenhair fern is native to much of California and grows in shaded woods under oaks and pines. Maidenhair never gets much sun and is usually in moist winter spots, that go dry in summer. If this fern dries out, it will go summer dormant (it will look dead). Maidenhair fern is native on north slopes and rock outcroppings. We also grew some for a mitigation in the Sierra Nevada mountains at 6000 feet. Small enough not to overwhelm but big enough to make a moist rock wall on the north side of a building very different indeed.
It is native to California and Baja California. A. jordanii is found in the southernmost part of its range in Baja California with such flora associates as Mimulus aridus and Daucus pusillus.