Asplenium trichomanes subsp. quadrivalens
Common name
Spleenwort
Synonyms
None
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.
ASPTSQ
Chromosome number
2n = 144
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 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: RR, SO, Sp
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | Data Deficient | Qualifiers: SO
2004 | Data Deficient
Distribution
Indigenous. In New Zealand known only from a few collections from the eastern Hawkes Bay where it was recently discovered (2008) at a few sites. It is also in Australia, Europe and probably elsewhere.
Habitat
Unclear. Apparently lowland and at one site (Tangoio) it was collected from limestone outcrops. Other than that we know very little about it. It is suspected that a few collections probably came from gardens, and their status as representing truly wild populations is suspect.
Features
Plants tetraploid. Rhizome stout, erect, bearing dark brown subulate scales up to 5 mm long. Stipes 10-100 mm long, dark brown, shining, stiff, lacking scales except at the very base. Laminae linear, 50-300 mm long, dark green, sub-coriaceous, pinnate. Raches dark brown, shining, stiff, lacking scales. Pinnae sub-sessile, 15-25 (or more) pairs, oblong to more or less orbicular, crenate-serrate to more or less entire, 2-10 x 1-5 mm. Sori up to 3 mm long. Spores 34-39 microns long.
Similar taxa
Easily recognised by the stiff and erect, simply pinnate fronds which are < 30 mm wide; bearing > 8 pairs pinnae; and by the brown stipe and rachis which is completely without scales. Two cryptic subspecies exist, one is hexaploid (2n = 216) and so has larger spores and is further distinguished by having larger darker scales while subsp. quadrivalens is tetraploid (2n = 144), so has smaller spores. It has finer, smaller, lighter scales.
Flowering
Not applicable - spore producing
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
Not applicable - spore producing
Propagation technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Threats
Unknown. This subspecies has only been collected a few times in New Zealand and recent attempts to rediscover it at these locations have so far been unsuccessful
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.
trichomanes: From the ancient Greek name used by Theophrastus and Dioscorides, for a type of fern; refers to the slender hair projecting from each spore case
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Notes on taxonomy
The other widespread plant referred to A. trichomanes is a hexaploid which appears to be endemic to New Zealand (it maybe in Australia). This cytorace may yet be described as a new subspecies or even subspecies as part of a European based revision of the A. trichomanes complex (L. Perrie pers. comm.). Until that time we retain the name A. trichomanes for this widespread hexaploid fern.
Attribution
Description from 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: 39-86.