Asplenium appendiculatum subsp. appendiculatum
Common name
ground spleenwort
Synonyms
Asplenium terrestre Brownsey subsp. terrestre
Family
Aspleniaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Ferns
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ASPASA
Chromosome number
2n = 288
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.
2012 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: North, South, Stewart and Antipodes Islands from Rotorua and near Pureora south – more common in the eastern South Island.
Also Australia and Tasmania.
Habitat
Lowland to subalpine (rarely coastal). Mainly in forested areas but also colonising bluffs and rocky outcrops, often in grey scrub. Strictly terrestrial.
Features
Rhizome short, erect, bearing dark brown subulate scales up to 15 × 2 mm. Stipes 50-150 mm long, brown below, green above, covered in subulate to narrowly triangular scales with long filiform apices. Laminae lanceolate to elliptic, 100-300 × 50-150 mm, dark green, leathery or very thick and fleshy, slightly drooping, bi- to tripinnate. Raches green, scaly, prominently ridged. Pinnae 8-20 pairs, those at the base ovate, those above very narrowly ovate or elliptic, often with long relatively undivided acuminate apices, stalked, 30-100 × 5-30 mm, covered on underside in tiny scales. Upper pinnules linear, entire and sessile; lower pinnules narrowly elliptic and pinnatifid or pinnate, up to 30 × 8 mm. Sori submarginal, 2-7 mm long.
Similar taxa
Differs from Asplenium flaccidum G.Forst. by its strict terrestrial growth habit, being octoploid (2n = 288) rather than tetraploid (2n = 144) and by having a more or less erect frond and a larger spore size. It can be distinguished from A. haurakiense (Brownsey) Ogle by its allopatric distribution, and by the lack of a greatly elongated basal acroscopic pinnule on each pinna. Asplenium appendiculatum (Labill.) C.Presl subsp. appendiculatum differs from subsp. maritimum by its preference for inland habitats, somewhat larger, lanceolate to elliptic fronds which tend to droop, more pinnae pairs, with those at the base ovate, and those above very narrowly ovate or elliptic, often with long relatively undivided acuminate tips; and by the lower pinnules being larger, and narrowly elliptic and pinnatifid to pinnate.
Flowering
Not applicable - spore producing
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
Not applicable - spore producing
Propagation technique
Easily grown. A very attractive fern which can be rather slow growing. Best in a large pot or planted in a deep, rich, moist soil in semi-shade. Prone to scale and mealy bug infections.
Etymology
asplenium: From the Greek a- ‘without’ and splene ‘spleen’, a northern hemisphere species, the black spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum), was once believed to be a cure for diseases of the spleen.
appendiculatum: Appendiculate, with small appendages or projections, hanging in small fragments
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (3 February 2005): Description from: Brownsey (1971).
References and further reading
Brownsey, P.J. 1977: A taxonomic revision of the New Zealand species of Asplenium. New Zealand Journal of Botany 15: 39-86.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Asplenium appendiculatum subsp. appendiculatum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/asplenium-appendiculatum-subsp-appendiculatum/ (Date website was queried)