Asplenium gracillimum
Common names
hen & chicken fern
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Ferns
Flower colours
No flowers
Detailed description
Rhizome short, stout, erect, bearing ovate scales up to 15 × 5 mm. Stipes 50–300 mm long, brown on underside, green above, stout, covered in small brown ovate scales with apices drawn into long filiform projections. Laminae lanceolate to elliptic, 0.15–1.20 m, 70–300 mm, bi- to tripinnate, sometimes bearing bulbils. Raches dark green to blue-green, rarely bulbiferous, scaly, prominently grooved. Pinnae 15–30 (or more) pairs, ovate to narrowly ovate, acuminate, shortly stalked, 30–200 × 10–50 mm, scaly on underside, basal pair pointing downwards when fresh. Secondary pinnae sessile or shortly stalked, very narrowly elliptic to ovate or elliptic, obtuse, deeply serrate or sometimes almost pinnate, decreasing in size from base to apex, basal acroscopic pinnule often enlarged (up to 40 × 10 mm). Ultimate pinnules narrowly oblong, ± entire to crenate-serrate, up to 10 mm long. Sori numerous, broad, submarginal, 2–4 mm long.
Similar taxa
Asplenium gracillimum is only ever likely to be confused with the closely related A. bulbiferum G.Forst. From that species it is distinguished by its infrequently bulbiferous, dark green to blue-green fronds, and stipe scales which have long filiform apices. Asplenium gracillimum is an octoploid (2n = 288) and A. bulbiferum tetraploid (2n = 144), so hybrids between these two species are sterile.
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: North Island, South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Chatham Islands. Also Australia.
Habitat
Coastal to subalpine. Usually in lowland forest where it is a common species of the ground-layer, especially in high rainfall areas. Commonly associated with riparian forest, and as a species of base-rich substrates but also typical of colluvium and stream side banks. It is commonly sympatric with Asplenium bulbiferum. Asplenium gracillimum appears to have a higher elevational range than A. bulbiferum and is also more common in drier eastern forests than A. bulbiferum. Chatham Island populations of A. gracillimum are frequently bulbiferous.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Asplenium bulbiferum subsp. gracillimum (Colenso) Brownsey
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Life cycle and dispersal
Minute spores are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easily grown, and popular in cultivation. However, most plants sold as this species are the sterile hybrid A. ×lucrosum Perrie et Brownsey (A. bulbliferum × A. dimorphum Kunze). An excellent pot plant but as with all asplenia prone to infestations of scale and mealy bugs.
Other information
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.
gracillimum: Slender or most graceful; from the Latin gracilis
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.
ASPGRA
Chromosome number
2n = 288
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | Regionally Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Brownsey PJ. 1977. A taxonomic revision of the New Zealand species of Asplenium. New Zealand Journal of Botany 15(1): 39–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.1977.10429618.
Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2009.06.001.
Attribution
Description from Brownsey (1977)