In the UAE, the species occurs in the Sweihan and Al Khazna areas, and the Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Al Mehairbi et al. 2019). The species has also been recorded from the Dubai Creek area (Sharjah Seedbank and Herbarium), where it is possibly introduced. The EOO, based on the Sweihan and the Hajar Mountains records, is 4,300 km². Globally this species occurs from Macaronesia, across North Africa and southern Europe, to the Middle East, Central Asia and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

Blumea bovei has been recorded within the Hajar Mountains, where it is considered to be widespread (Jongbloed et al. 2003, MEW 2010). Globally, the native range of this species spans from the Sahara to the Arabian Peninsula and on to India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, this species is restricted to the Hajar Mountains according to Jongbloed et al. (2003), but with additional records from Jebel Hafeet (Jebel Hafeet wadi; 1,240 m; Sakkir et al. 2018) and Wadi Wurayah National Park (Tourenq et al. 2009, Feulner 2011), although the latter record was from the outflow pool below the waterfall and the origin of the species here requires confirmation. The species is planted within sewage farms (MEW 2010) and Western (1982, 1983) recorded the species from the outfall of the old sewage farm on Abu Dhabi Island. The species also occurs in the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai. Al Meharibi et al. (2019) show presence northwards through the Hajar Mountains to the Ru'us al-Jibal, although the species is not listed as present there by Feulner (2011). Globally, this species has an almost cosmopolitan distribution, absent only from northern latitudes in North America and Europe, although Plants of the World Online does not include the UAE in its distribution (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The native distribution of this species is uncertain because of taxonomic and identification confusions (CABI 2019), but we consider the species to probably be native to the UAE following draft Red List assessment for the Arabian Peninsula (Patzelt and Knees 2012).

In the UAE, the species is found in scattered, widespread localities, primarily through the Hajar Mountains, at edges of permanent water pools and in wet and moist places, such as in irrigated plantations (Jongbloed et al. 2003). The global range of this species are the tropics and subtropics (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species is present in the United Arab Emirates from multiple records: within the Ra's al-Khaimah Emirate it is known from Diftah, southeast of Masafi, at 350 m asl (Miller and Cope 1996, Jongbloed et al. 2003, Rothfels et al. 2012). It also occurs at Jebel Hafeet (Sakkir and Brown 2014). The species is considered to be widespread throughout the Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Adiantum capillus-veneris is considered to grow at lower elevations, having not been found above c. 500 m in the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). This species has a sub-cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all continents except the Antarctic, including temperate and tropical Asia, Macaronesia, throughout Africa, including Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands, Australia (where it is apparently considered to be native), New Zealand (where it is considered to be introduced) and the Americas from Canada south to Venezuela. In the Arabian Peninsula this species is known from Saudi Arabia (El-Olayan 2006, Sharawy and Alshammari 2009), Oman (Radcliffe-Smith 1980, Miller and Cope 1996, Pickering and Patzelt 2008, Rothfels et al. 2012), Yemen including Socotra (Kilian et al. 2002, Miller and Morris 2004), Bahrain (Miller and Cope 1996), United Arab Emirates (Miller and Cope 1996, Jongbloed et al. 2003). Although not widely reported, it is widespread throughout mountainous regions of the peninsula, occurring up to 3,000 m asl.

Within the UAE this species occurs in urban areas along the Arabian Gulf coast (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Sakkir et al. (2017) state that it is present on off-shore islands of Abu Dhabi. The Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium and RBG Kew seed survey data hold records of this species from Al Ain city, and from the southern part of the Hajar Mountain range in the UAE; the identity and origin of these records need confirmation. Globally, the native range of this species spans across Africa and the eastern Mediterranean to the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species is locally common along the Arabian Gulf coast in suitable habitat in Abu Dhabi Emirate (Al Mehairbi et al. 2019) and has also been recorded from the Hatta pools (Jongbloed et al. 2003), although the continued presence of some coastal subpopulations requires confirmation due to extensive coastal development. Feulner (2011) recorded the species from coastal parts of northern Ras al-Khaimah. There are also records from the western slopes of the Hajar Mountains (Al Qasheesh Dam, Ras al-Khaimah; Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium) and from the east coast at Kalba (1994, <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00398627"">RBGE Herbarium</a>); the latter record at least requires confirmation, and may no longer be extant. The species has a wide distribution in the tropics and subtropics, including Africa, southern Europe, the Americas, Australia and parts of Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

In the UAE, the species is widespread in the Hajar Mountains, along the east coast, and opportunistically elsewhere, including along the Arabian Gulf coast and the offshore islands (Sakkir et al. 2017), within irrigated areas (Jongbloed et al. 2003). It is found in lawns and golf courses as well as in mangrove forests (western Abu Dhabi) with fresh water supply from nearby irrigated lawns (Jongbloed et al. 2003). The species is now present throughout Africa, temperate and tropical Asia, Australasia and tropical America (Cook 1996), it has an almost pan-global distribution in the southern hemisphere (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The species is considered to have originated in the Americas, but to have undergone natural dispersal from the America to Africa then to Australasia (Gross et al. 2017). However, it has also undergone human-mediated dispersal, which has obscured the origin of some populations (Gross et al. 2017); the origin of the species in the UAE can not be confirmed, but we consider it here to be occurring naturally in the country.

Within the Hajar Mountains in the UAE, it is considered to be widespread (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Globally, this species occurs from the south and eastern Mediterranean, through to the Arabian Peninsula and on to Afghanistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, Jongbloed et al. (2003) reported a small number of isolated localities in coastal or near-coastal areas of the Ajman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi emirates. More recent records suggest a more frequent and widespread distribution, and Karim and Dhakeel (2006) give the distribution as Abu Dhabi (e.g., Sila, Tarif), Dubai, Fujairah, and Umm al-Qaiwain. In Ra's al-Khaimah, Feulner (2011) reported the species from, or adjacent to, salt marshes north of Rams and Llewellyn-Smith (2011) recorded the species at the Khor Hulaylah coastal wetland complex. Sakkir and Brown (2014) found the species at Jebel Hafeet, but comment that the species has been introduced to the area through human disturbance and benefits from irrigated agriculture. Globally, this species occurs throughout the Mediterranean, east through western and central Asia, to India and south to northern and central Africa, as well as South America, Australia and parts of Southeast Asia. There is no information on whether some of these populations may be non-native. In the Arabian Peninsula, this species occurs throughout coastal areas in the region, and locally inland in Oman.