Asplenium L.

Spleenwort

Greek asplenon, derived from a - not, without splen-spleen; a particular species was once regarded as a cure for diseases of the spleen.

Mostly large, evergreen, terrestrial ferns that, in nature, sometimes grow on rocks or other plants. Rhizome creeping, short to more or less erect, covered with scales. Sterile and fertile fronds mostly similar. Fronds evergreen, undivided to many times divided; veins usually forked and free. Sori narrow, linear to oblong along a vein, well spaced and at an angle to the midrib, covered by a linear flap which opens towards the midrib.

The suffix 'wort' that is frequently found in plant common names, such as Spleenwort, is derived from wyrt, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning medicinal plant.

720 or so species, cosmopolitan (29 species in Australia) .

Mostly by spores, a few by removal and growth of plantlets.

Latticed scales on the fronds and rhizomes; sori and indusia in lines along veins.

Meyer (1960, for hybrids), Joe (1968), Holttum (1974), Brownsey (1977).

Source: Spencer, R. (1995). Aspleniaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

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kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Polypodiopsida
order     Polypodiales
family      Aspleniaceae
Higher taxa
Subordinate taxa
species        Asplenium attenuatum R.Br.
species        Asplenium belangeri Kunze
species        Asplenium bulbiferum G.Forst.
species        Asplenium dimorphum Kunze
species        Asplenium flabellifolium Cav.
species        Asplenium flaccidum G.Forst.
species        Asplenium hookerianum Colenso
species        Asplenium laserpitiifolium Lam.
species        Asplenium nidus L.
species        Asplenium oblongifolium Colenso
species        Asplenium obtusatum G.Forst.
species        Asplenium paleaceum R.Br.
species        Asplenium polyodon G.Forst.
species        Asplenium scolopendrium L.
species        Asplenium shuttleworthianum Kunze
species        Asplenium simplicifrons F.Muell.
species        Asplenium terrestre Brownsey
species        Asplenium trichomanes L.
species        Asplenium viviparum (L.) C.Presl