Asplenium scleroprium
Common names
southern shore spleenwort
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Ferns
Detailed description
Stout, tufted fern. Rhizomes stout, erect, fleshy, densely invested in blackish-brown scales. Stipes 150–500 mm long, stipes and rachises brown below, green above, covered in dense subulate scales. Laminae ovate to narrowly ovate or elliptic, pinnate, 150–500 × 80–200 mm, dark green, blue green, thick, somewhat fleshy, leathery, bearing scattered scales. Pinnae 50–130 × 10–20 mm, ovate to narrow ovate, apices tapering, margins regularly and deeply toothed. Sori up to 10 mm long, reaching margins at indentations.
Similar taxa
Most likely to be confused with A. obtusatum with which it frequently grows and sometimes hybridises with. From that species it differs by its prominently and regularly toothed pinnules with tapering rather than blunt apices, and by the sori which reach the margins at the pinnule indentations.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (uncommon, known only from Bluff Hill and at Sandy point, Invercargill), Stewart Island/Rakiura, Snares Islands/Tini Heke, Chatham Islands, Auckland Islands.
Habitat
Coastal. A species of exposed sites on rocky headlands, cliff faces and at the margins of coastal shrubland. Usually found growing with and amongst Asplenium obtusatum.
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp, DPS, DPT
Threats
Aside from its mainland occurrences near Invercargill this species is not threatened. However nowhere is it common, the largest populations are probably on the Auckland Islands.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Asplenium aucklandicum (Hook.f.) Crookes; Asplenium lucidum var. aucklandicum (Hook.f.) Allan; Asplenium obtusatum var. scleroprium G.M.Thomson; Asplenium flaccidum var. aucklandicum Hook.f.; Asplenium lucidum var. scleroprium (Hombr.) T.Moore; Asplenium scleropium Hombr.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Life cycle and dispersal
Minute spores are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Unknown
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
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.
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.
ASPSCL
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Sparse
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
Fact Sheet prepared for the NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (12 August 2006). Description based on Brownsey (1977).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Asplenium scleroprium Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/asplenium-scleroprium/ (Date website was queried)