Asplenium trichomanes
Common name
spleenwort
Synonyms
Asplenium melanolepis Colenso; Chamaefilix trichomanes (L.) Farw.; Asplenium trichomanes var. melanolepis (Colenso) C.Chr.;
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.
ASPTRI
Chromosome number
2n = 216
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 and South Islands from near Waro (north of Whangarei) south though often local. Known from a few collections from Australia
Habitat
Coastal to subalpine. Favouring sparsely vegetated, sunny sites on base-rich rocks such as limestone, basalt, schist or the apatite-rich facies of greywacke rock. In the North Island it is virtually confined to calcareous rock and soil.
Features
Plants hexaploid. 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 ± orbicular, crenate-serrate to ± entire, 2-10 × 1-5 mm. Sori up to 3 mm long. Spores 39-47 microns long. 2n = 216
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 (the entity described in this Fact Sheet) hexaploid (2n = 216) and the other (subsp. quadrivalens Meyer) tetraploid (2n = 144)
Flowering
Not applicable - spore producing
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
Not applicable - spore producing
Propagation technique
Easily grown in a pot, or in a crevice within a rock wall. Does best on a base-rich substrate such as limestone or basalt (or mortar within a brick wall). Prone to attacks from scale, mealy bugs and aphids.
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
New Zealand plants are hexaploid and are distinct from the type (in Europe) which is diploid. At this stage we refer them to A. trichomanes, though at a later date they may receive a new name at either the rank of species or subspecies.
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.