Asplenium scleroprium
Common name
southern shore spleenwort
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.
Family
Aspleniaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
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.
ASPSCL
Chromosome number
2n = 288
Current conservation status
The threat classification 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) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website 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. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
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
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Sparse
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand, South, Stewart, Chatham, Snares and Auckland Islands. In the South Island uncommon, known only from Bluff Hill and at Sandy point, Invercargill.
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.
Features
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 x 80-200 mm, dark green, blue green, thick, somewhat fleshy, leathery, bearing scattered scales. Pinnae 50-130 x 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.
Flowering
Not applicable - spore producing
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
Not applicable - spore producing
Life cycle
Minute spores are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Unknown
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.
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.
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for the NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (12 August 2006). Description based on Brownsey (1977).
References and further reading
Brownsey, P.J. 1977: A taxonomic revision of the New Zealand species of Asplenium. New Zealand Journal of Botany 15(1): 39-86.
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 2009 Vol. 11 No. 4 pp. 285-309
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)